To Save an Angel
by Juzu
Summary: This story deals with the question: What if only one life was taken at the end of the game? This starts out in Seph's childhood and goes from there but there's another girl...treated the same as him. Can they be freinds or more than that? REVISING!
1. chapter 1

(Author's Note: Hey. This story is something I just thought up one night while working on another one. I got this question in my head: What if the end of the game was different? What if only one life was taken instead of two? So the next day I sat down and started to type. And this is what I came up with… 

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Anything else is mine thank you.

Enjoy! Any ideas for a title and chapter names are definitely welcome! Please R&R.)

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**Chapter 1**

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Why? Why did it always hurt like this? Why was it always so cold? These questions and more drifted through his mind. The 10 year old boy curled up into a ball in the room's farthest corner. He wanted to just sink into the floor and be forgotten…but that wouldn't happen.

It never did.

A silver bang fell in front of his face. Without thinking he brushed it out of his bright green eyes. He wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them to his chest trying to get warm. He buried his face against his arms. He didn't want to be a soldier.  All he wanted was a home and parents.

Did he even have parents?

He still felt the sting from the slap of the professor's hand when he had asked about his parents early that day. What was the matter with asking that?

"Heh…I guess I really am alone in the world…or this life I'm stuck in…" he said to himself. He needed sleep but he didn't want to go to sleep. When he woke up it would only be closer for the time of his next visit to that madman's lab…

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The 8 year old girl wrapped her arms around herself as she sat up after being thrown into her room. Room? Cell was more like it. Her cell…the only place she had to go besides that lab. She shivered. She hated this place…but it was all she had. She wondered briefly if anyone else felt as lonely and…what was the word she was looking for? 

Dead? 

Yes that was it. She felt dead inside. She had nothing. She pushed her thought from her head. Of course no one else felt this way! She was the only one that the professor tortured…wasn't she?

Sighing she sat down and brushed her royal blue hair out of her bright green eyes. She wanted to go to sleep and forget this place and the pain. But it was a long time before she finally did fall asleep.

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	2. chapter 2

(Author's Note: Thanks to my 1 review! I'm happy! Anyway. Sorry the first chapter was short I'll try to make them longer but they all might end up like that. Here's chapter 2.)

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Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Cassandra is mine though.

**Chapter 2**

"You let go of me right now!" The 2 soldiers just ignored him and dragged Sephiroth into the lab.

"Must you fight? You never win," the scientist said as he looked up.

"You just shut up!" Sephiroth growled.

"Oh my. You're only 10 years old and it takes _2_ soldiers to get you into my lab?" Hojo said. The 2 soldiers tightened their grip. 

Sephiroth struggled even more. "Let me go!"

Hojo shook his head. "Get him on the table," he said. The 2 soldiers dragged him to the metal table and proceed to strap him down by his wrists, ankles, and waist. "Excellent. Now I've been looking through my notes and have decided to up the dosage of your Mako injection," Hojo said when he stood over Sephiroth's struggling form.

"Let me go! You don't have any right to do this! Where's Professor Gast? What about my father? If he heard…" Sephiroth's head rocked to the side from the backhanded slap.

"Shut up you insolent little boy! Nothing you do or say will stop me! Your father…" Hojo started laughing. Sephiroth just glared at him. "Oh if looks could kill…your father will agree with me that these treatments are for the best. And as for Gast…he's taking a vacation," Hojo said when his laughter was under control.

"When will he be back?"

"Oh not for a long time…"

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation sir…" a new soldier said standing in the door way.

Hojo turned to face him. "What?" he growled.

"This girl, sir. You wanted to see her…"

"Oh yes…Cassandra…" Hojo trailed off as his eyes settled on the struggling girl. The soldier held on to one arm but it was enough to keep her from getting away despite her fighting.

Sephiroth turned his head to look at her. She looked at him. She was only about a head shorter than he was with long royal blue hair. Her eyes reflected his own. She had identical white markings around her eyes and a strange white marking on the back of her right hand.

"Put her in that cell for now. When I'm finished with him it's her turn," Hojo said waving a hand at the glass cell and turning to Sephiroth. The soldier dragged her across the room and tossed her into the cell. She sat up and rubbed her sore arm.

"…Sephiroth! Are you listening to me?" Hojo said.

"I'm trying not to but your voice is so loud it's hard not to hear you," he said.

Hojo laughed softly. "You know your little 'barbs' won't hurt me in the least."

"I can always try."

Hojo pushed the table he was strapped down on over to a machine. Once the table was in place he gave the machine a few adjustments.

"You know this hurts me more than you," Hojo said voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh I just bet it does," Sephiroth said as the 5 needles lowered and pierced his skin. The girl watched as the expression on his face turned from anger to pain.

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	3. chapter 3

(Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is longer than the others…but it makes up for the next one to that I already have typed. It's only like a page long…but here's the next chapter…)

Disclaimer: Don't own ff7 or Squaresoft so don't sue! Cassandra and Navarro are mine though!

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**Chapter 3**

Sephiroth sighed and sat back on his bed. It had been a year since he had seen that girl…Cassandra. He had found out that she was receiving the same treatments as him. _'Why? She seems different but what does Hojo want with her?' he thought. He sat thinking for a few more minutes._

The door to his room unlocked and Hojo came in with 3 soldiers. One was dressed in a different uniform. _'Probably a higher rank,' Sephiroth thought watching them with distaste._

"Sephiroth this is Navarro. He will be in charge of your training," Hojo said indicating the soldier.

"What training? I don't remember signing up for any kind of lessons," Sephiroth said.

"The first stages of your SOLDIER training that's what. You'll be reporting to him and me. Your treatments will continue with even higher dosages while he trains you," Hojo said.

"Lucky me."

"Well. He's all yours," Hojo said ignoring him and leaving the room.

"Come with me," Navarro said.

"Why not?" Sephiroth asked stretching and following him from the room. The 2 other soldiers followed him. They walked silently down hall after hall until they came to a dead end. It was a locked door. Navarro took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. Before he moved into the room he signaled to one of the soldiers. He nodded and went back the way they had come.

"In here," Navarro said. Sephiroth followed him into a huge circular room. A weapons room. "You may pick what ever you want to use. If I decide you can't use it well enough you'll pick something else," Navarro said.

Sephiroth started walking around the room looking at all the different swords, guns, and other weapons. "What would you say if I said I didn't see anything I liked?" he said.

"Then I'll just pick something out for you and we'll start with that," Navarro said.

"Right…you might just have to do that," Sephiroth said as he finished looking through half of the room.

"Here she is sir," the soldier said as he came back to the room.

Navarro turned. "Cassandra?" he asked. Sephiroth stopped and turned.

"What's it to ya?" the girl asked and jerked her arm away from the soldier. She looked at Sephiroth when she noticed his gaze.

"Pick your weapon," Navarro said.

"I don't want to fight," she said.

"You sure do have confidence for a little 9 year old girl with no one but herself to talk to," he said. She stuck her tongue out at him. He raised his hand to slap her and she cringed back. "Good girl. Now pick your weapon," he said. 

She started walking around the room. Sephiroth continued his search. He kept glancing at the girl every once in a while. A half hour later neither had picked out a weapon.

"I don't see anything I like," Sephiroth said.

"I don't want one period," Cassandra said.

"Well I've just have to pick one out for you then won't I?" Navarro asked walking to a cabinet they hadn't noticed earlier. He opened it got turned around showing them 2 weapons that were inside it.  Two swords of almost the same length. "This sword is called the masamune. No one on the Planet can use it because of its size and length. Legend says that this sword was made by an Ancient. This other sword is made of a rare crystal like metal. Some scientists who have examined it say that it has Mako infused in it making it able to cast a spell of any kind without the use of materia. As with the masamune no one has been able to use it…" Navarro trailed off.

"I like the masamune," Sephiroth said surprising himself.

"I doubt you could even lift it though," Navarro said.

"We'll just see about that," Sephiroth said walking forward.

Navarro moved to the side with a smirk. Sephiroth lifted the sword off the hooks that held it in place. He unsheathed it and cut the air in front of him twice. The 2 soldiers stared at him in shock.

Navarro just laughed softly. "Hojo hinted as much as that you could use this sword. After all _you have Ancients blood in you," he said as Sephiroth resheathed the blade. Sephiroth just snorted and put it back in the case. "Now Cassandra. Get the other sword," Navarro said._

"Why?" she asked in a dull voice.

"NOW!"

"All right, all right. Hold your chocobos," she said walking forward and picking it up.

"…and no one can use it because it's heavy…wimps," she said. She swung the blade easily then put it back.

"Very good. Now that you have your weapons you'll start with basic training just like any other soldier," Navarro said only slightly annoyed.

"But I don't want to be a soldier," Sephiroth said.

"Really you have no choice. Hojo wanted to see you both when we were done so you better get going," Navarro said.

Sephiroth started for the door.  Cassandra didn't move.

"Get going," Navarro said.

"I don't wanna go to that lab!" she said.

"Move it little girl!"

"No!" She hit the floor with a thud when he back handed her on the side of her face. "I said move," he snarled.

She slowly sat up. "No…" she said softly. He raised his hand to slap her again.

"Stop!" everyone looked at Sephiroth.

"What did you say?" Navarro asked.

"Leave her alone," Sephiroth said taking a step back as Navarro stepped towards him.

"I don't take orders from the likes of you," he growled.

"I'll go," Cassandra said softly stopping any argument that was to come.

"Good. Now get," Navarro said. The 2 soldiers escorted them to the lab.

"It's about time! Tell Navarro that they will be in basic training until they are both the right age to join the army," Hojo said. One of the soldiers nodded and left the lab. "Now…Mako treatments…" Hojo said.

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	4. chapter 4

(Author's Note: Hey thanks for reading this everyone! We've got a small fight in this chapter! Not much but something…oh well…Here's the next chapter…)

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft! Anything else is mine! Thank you!

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**Chapter 4**

Four years later…

"Well Sephiroth…welcome to SOLDIER training," Navarro said.

"Yeah whatever," Sephiroth said and rolled his eyes.

"But you still have 2 years to go before you join," Navarro said turning to Cassandra.

"Good," she said. Navarro narrowed his eyes. Sephiroth shook his head.

"I might just ask Hojo to convince the president to allow you in now though," Navarro said.

"No one would miss you that's for sure," she smirked.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Take it anyway you want…I'm just saying…"

"You couldn't hurt me even if I was tied up and weaponless."

"…you wanna say that again?" Cassandra asked.

"You heard me clearly," Navarro said.

"You wanna prove your point?"

"Why? You know I'm right. Why humiliate you?" Sephiroth stepped away from both of them.

"I've had it with you! I've put up with you for 4 years now! I'm tired of it!" Cassandra yelled and lunged at him.

Navarro smirked and jumped back away from her. "Come and get me," he said.

"Gladly," she said.

She ran at him but jumped to the side the same time he did. She spun and caught him in the stomach with her foot. He staggered back and looked at her with an evil smile. Without warning he ran at her and hit her to the floor.

"I didn't fall. You did. Now get out of here," he said as she got back up. Clenching and unclenching her fists she walked away from them. Sephiroth watched after her but soon his attention was caught by Navarro as he was given his new instructions.

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Cassandra grumbled to herself as she walked down the hall towards her room. She was tired of this! She wanted to get out…to leave this place…to start over. She stopped and let her thoughts sink in.

"Ha! I'm only 13 and here I am thinking about starting over…" she shook her head and continued on her way. Another thought came to mind.

Her bad mood slowly faded. It was risky but she would be able to pull it off. She had 2 years before it was impossible to escape…but that was plenty of time for her. She only had to have time to talk to Sephiroth by himself and…why did she need him?

She could do it by herself. But he was treated the same as she was…She decided that they both deserved a new life.

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	5. chapter 5

(Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long to update but for some reason I wasn't able to upload…oh well…)

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. I own Cassandra and Navarro.

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**Chapter 5**

One year later…

"Are you crazy?!"

"No," Cassandra said and rolled her eyes.

"Then what are you thinking?" Sephiroth asked.

"I want to get out of here. I don't know about you though," she said.

"No no listen to what you're saying…"

"I know good and well what I'm saying. Either you do or don't want to get away and start a new life or you want to be tortured by that madman for the rest of your life. Do what you want but I'm getting out of here," she said. With that said she turned and walked away. He watched her disappear around the corner. A minute later he was practically running after her.

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Cassandra was about to walk down a flight of stairs when a voice hissed behind her.

"Cassie!" 

She spun around. "Oh it's you. Did you make up your mind?" she asked when she saw Sephiroth.

"Yes I did. Now what's your plan for doing this?" he asked.

"What plan?"

"You don't have a plan?"

"Well no. You never know for certain what's happening around this building so I thought it best if I played it by ear," she said and shrugged.

"You're hopeless," he said.

"Whatever. Are you coming or not?"

"Yes yes I'm coming."

"Good. Follow me," she said and started down the stairs. They reached the lobby on the ground level of the building surprisingly without any problems. They stopped just within the shadows of the stairs and looked around.  There were some people milling around the reception desk but that was all.  Sephiroth looked back at Cassandra…only to find her gone. He caught a glimpse of her as she ran out the door. He followed. He looked around when he was outside. "Don't just stand there! Come on!" she hissed from where she crouched waiting for him.

She bolted for an alleyway that was close by. He followed. They got to the alley and ducked behind a dumpster.

"Did any one see us?" she asked softly not wanting to be found by any noise.

"I don't think so," Sephiroth answered just as quietly. After a few tense minutes they sat back against the buildings wall and relaxed a bit. "Well now what?" he asked breaking the silence between them.

"I'm not sure…what do you want to do?" she asked.

"…well…during one of my basic training sessions I had to study some maps…one of the places I looked at was called Costa Del Sol…if we really have gotten away from this place I kinda want to go there…" he trailed off thinking.

"Why there?" she asked interested.

He shrugged. "I don't know…it's always sunny and warm I guess…better than this place…that's why…what about you? Where would you go?" he asked.

"Me? Well…I…I really like snow…don't know how or why I do considering I've never seen it…it just seems…pleasant?" Cassandra looked unsure.

"Pleasant? What do you mean?" he asked.

It was her turn to shrug but then she gave a small laugh. "I don't know…I read about it in that weather book we had to read…it just sounded…nice?" she said.

"If that's what you want…" he stood up. She did too and looked around the corner of the wall at the Shinra building.

"I think we're safe. I guess we'll meet sometime…right?"

"I guess so…just be careful and watch your step. Shinra probably will be looking for us," he said. 

She smiled and looked up at him. "I'll be careful if you will," she said.

"Very well…I guess…see you sometime…?"

"Yeah…later… but first…Cassie?"

"Oh…that was a slip of the tongue…I didn't mean to say that but I might not have been able to stop you since you were getting ready to go down stairs and I would have had to say your full name. I won't do that again," he said sheepishly.

She shrugged. "I didn't mind…it was just…startling," she said. 

He stepped away from the dumpster. She followed. Something hit the side of his head causing him to stagger to the side a few steps.

"Looky here…the runaways…" They both looked up and found Navarro. "Didn't get very far now did you?" he smirked.

Cassandra glared at him. Sephiroth shook his head trying to clear the spots out of his vision.

"We're not going back!" Cassandra snarled at Navarro.

"Oh I think you are. Hojo wants to have a word with you…Sephiroth will be dealt with later," Navarro said.

"No…I won't go back. I'm leaving this city!" she said taking a few steps back.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Navarro said stepping closer. There were a few other soldiers behind them that neither Cassandra nor Sephiroth had seen. Before they had realized it Sephiroth was restrained.

"Let him go!" she yelled and tackled one of the soldiers.

Navarro crossed his arms as he watched the struggle. He suddenly laughed when Sephiroth started to fight back.

"What's so funny sir?" a soldier asked.

"Oh just this…Hojo said they would be almost unstoppable…but yet…" Navarro laughed more and gestured at the small fight.

"What did you say?" Cassandra demanded.

"It's nothing really…from what Hojo said you 2 are supposed to have power beyond dreams…but from where I'm standing it doesn't look like it…it would seem that you are failures," Navarro said.

"I am not a failure!" Sephiroth yelled and punched a soldier in the stomach. Navarro smirked.

"That goes for me too!" Cassandra hissed and ran at Navarro. He waited until she was about a foot from him then jumped. Sephiroth was punched in the stomach and fell to his knees. A hand on both of his shoulders kept him from raising or getting away.

In a swift movement Navarro drew out his hand gun and grabbed Cassandra's wrist from behind her when he had landed. He forced her to spin around and pinned her so her back was against the wall. He pointed the gun at her.

"Now. Hojo wants to talk to you Cassandra…" he glanced at Sephiroth. "I'll deal with you when I get back from taking her to the lab. Get him inside."

The soldiers proceed to drag Sephiroth back towards the building. He struggled but it did very little good. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Cassandra use her other hand to shove Navarro away from her. He stepped back a few steps but that was all.

She was able to free her hand and take a step before the handle of his gun hit the side of her head. After a few staggering steps she went down. Navarro stood over her with an angry look on his face. After a second he picked her up over his shoulder and followed the soldiers with Sephiroth.

"…only 14 and causing this much trouble…" he was muttering to himself as they entered the building.

Sephiroth was taken back to his room. He snapped his fingers.  If only they had had a chance to get their swords out then they could have beaten Navarro and the soldiers…but it hadn't worked. He sighed and sat down waiting for Navarro to arrive…waiting for the lecture and punches that were sure to come.

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	6. chapter 6

(Author's Note: Hey there! This chapter isn't very long…but hey…)

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Cassandra and Navarro are mine though.

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**Chapter 6**

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One year later…

Hojo looked down at the unconscious form strapped down to the metal table. He nodded to himself in satisfaction. There would be no more problems with this one.

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Sephiroth stood with his gloved hands clasped behind his back. His long silver hair hung loose around him. His hair stood out against the blackness of his uniform. He wore black boots that went to his knees and baggy black pants. He wore no shirt just a full length black trench coat and 2 leather straps crossed on his chest. He had no emotion on his face as he watched some troops go through drills. The general stood next to him on the platform. Navarro stood by the general's other side.

General Heidegger nodded in approval. "These will do fine," he said.

"Sir, the new recruits are here," Navarro said.

"Very well…I'll let my second in command take a look at them this time…just to see how he does. Are you up to that Sephiroth?" Heidegger said.

"Yes sir," Sephiroth replied looking if anything bored.

"Then you have your orders," Heidegger said and saluted. Sephiroth returned the salute and briskly walked towards the door. It closed silently behind him.

"And just think only a year ago he was nothing," Navarro said.

"He's bested you," Heidegger pointed out.

"Yes but that was only after Hojo took care of that girl. Since he never saw her after that he's forgotten about her completely. He's become cold and ruthless…just like the perfect SOLDIER should be," Navarro said.

"And this war we're about to enter will only make him stronger and more feared. I wouldn't be surprised if the president made him a general before the fighting even started," Heidegger laughed to himself.

"The perfect soldier…once that girl was dealt with that it is exactly what we got from Sephiroth…the perfect weapon…" Navarro joined him with his own laughter.

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Sephiroth walked down the hall to the battle/training area. When he entered hundreds of new recruits were standing at attention. He smirked inwardly. They were standing in rows of silence as he made his inspection. None of them were standing perfectly still and some wouldn't even look up to meet his eyes. Those he tapped on the shoulder. Their shoulders only slumped as they headed for the door.

_'If they can't even look me in the eye they will only become consumed by their fear during a real battle and that will be the end of them,'_ he thought. He stopped in front of a soldier halfway through the rows.

She stood just about a head shorter then he was and stood perfectly still…not a muscle moved. She stared straight ahead with an unblinking bright green gaze. He walked around her but she still didn't move.

"Do you fear?" he asked as he stopped in front of her.

"Fear? What have I to fear?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'll be watching you closely," he said and continued his inspection of the rows.

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	7. chapter 7

(Author's Note: Hello! This chapter deals more with Sephy than Cassandra…but oh well! It's *drum roll* the next chapter! Enjoy!)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Cassandra and Navarro are.

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**Chapter 7**

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"In one week we will begin our advancement on Wutai…I want Sephiroth as my commanding general on the battle field," Shinra said blowing out a ring of smoke. There were a few others present in his office at this time. The room was huge and one wall was a window.

"If that's what you want sir," Heidegger said with a shrug.

"It is…he'll inflict more casualties than you will," Shinra said.

"That's true sir. Shall I tell him now?" Heidegger asked.

"No. We have a meeting to finish first. Hojo…what ever happened to your other 'experiment?'" Shinra asked turning to face the scientist. 

Hojo laughed to himself. "It's nothing to be concerned about. All I did was give her a few dosages of a new substance I came up with. Basically this substance wiped out her memory and I…reprogrammed her?" Hojo said looking pleased with himself.

"So that's what you did to her…she'll follow orders a lot better now I'm sure," Shinra said leaning back in his chair.

 "She will. I also gave Sephiroth a small amount of this substance during one of his Mako injections. I am correct to say that he has forgotten her, right?" Hojo asked.

"He has," Navarro said.

"Excellent. This meeting is over. Tell Sephiroth of his promotion and start getting ready to move our troops to Wutai," Shinra said.

"Yes sir," Heidegger said as they all left Shinra alone in the room.

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3 days later…

"Name?"

"Cassandra."

"Age?"

"16."

"Well Cassandra. Congratulations. You have passed basic training and are now a member of the elite SOLDIER. You will be going to Wutai shortly for the final test," Navarro said.

"Yes sir," she said.

"You are dismissed," he said. She saluted and walked away. 

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4 days later…

The SOLDIER camp was set up in a clearing deep within a forest. The general perched on a branch in the highest tree surveying the land around the camp. From this height he could see the outskirts of Wutai. He watched as the towns defenders prowled around…standing guard…ready to sound the alarm if an attack should come.

He silently laughed to himself. They were waiting for an attack that none of them could possibly stand against. After watching and surveying for a few more minutes he jumped down to land smoothly within the tree's shadow.

"There you are!"

Sephiroth smirked inwardly. "What do you want Zack?" he asked the younger soldier.

Zack shrugged. "I was just wondering if you would tell me anything about your plans for our attack," he said.

Sephiroth gave him a dull look. "You know I won't until the rest of the officers are present for our meeting…which happens to be in 10 minutes you know," he said as he straightened from his landing position.

"Oh yeah. I knew that. Just wanted to make sure you did," Zack said with a nod.

"You had no clue as to what time it was now did you?"

"…so?"

Sephiroth sighed and slowly shook his head. "Come on. They all should be gathered by now," he said and breezed past Zack walking back to the camp's center.

"…yes sir," Zack sighed and followed.

When they reached the center of the camp they entered the biggest tent around. (Sephiroth's of course!) The rest of the officers were standing around a table located in the center of the first half of the tent since it was divided into 2 parts.

"You may sit," Sephiroth said as he sat down at the head of the table. Silently they did as he said. "Now…" he started as he put his hands together and interlaced his fingers and leaned forward slightly setting his hands on the table top. "You know what this meeting is about so let's just get straight to the point. Before I start does any one have any suggestions?"

No one moved or made a sound.

"Very well then. Our plan of attack…they will expect us to attack at first light so their patrols will be the heaviest then…my plan is to do the opposite of what they are prepared for…we will attack between the hours of 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. tonight. I want your troops in place by 8 o'clock sharp. No one is to attack until I give the word. Understood?" Sephiroth said looking at each of the officers one at a time.

"Yes sir!" they all said.

"Good. Everyone is to stay within the camps premises until it is time to move. There will be no drills practiced today. I want everyone fresh for the attack. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed until further notice."

"Yes sir!" the officers said and left the tent.

"Didn't you hear me Zack? You're dismissed," Sephiroth said closing his eyes and with a hint of annoyance on his face.

Zack shrugged. "This camp is as boring as watching paint dry. I've got nothing else to do so why not just stay here and bug you?" he said with a slight smirk.

Sephiroth opened his eyes and slowly looked up. "I'm sure I could find something for you to do," he said.

"…I don't like that look in your eyes so I'll…just be going now…" Zack stood and walked to the tents exit.

"Are you still here? Oh well. Now where did I put masamune?" Sephiroth spoke more to himself as he stood. He turned around in time to see Zack running away from his tent. He smirked to himself for a minute then turned his attention to the matter at hand.

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	8. chapter 8

(Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing! This chapter probably will make you mad at me from where it stops…*nervous laugh*…I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can…please don't be mad…)

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Everything else is mine.

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**Chapter 8**

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The night was cold and calm. There was not a cloud in the sky and the only sound was from the breeze moving through the trees. The moon was bright and full. The only thing that ruined this almost peaceful scene was the tense feeling in the air. The general stood on top of a huge boulder on the side of the hill.  He had discarded his trench coat and loosely held his sword in his left hand with the blade pointing behind him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath then slowly released it. He was completely relaxed and ready for this battle. His officers stood on either side of him on the ground. Every soldier within the camp was now in place. Soon…he would signal the attack to begin. The clock ticked on…minutes turned to hours…midnight struck.

He gave a barely visible nod. Hundreds of battle cries shattered the silence as the army rushed forward. The attack had begun.

Sephiroth leaped off his boulder and raced towards the town with his troops behind him. Another cry rang out as the opposing army realized what was happening. The fire from guns rang out. Rockets sailed through the air to explode when contact with the ground was made. Some battle cries turned to cries of pain. Some cries were never finished.

Trees and bushes and grasses burst into flames from the fire. The once cloudless sky was now filled with smoke. The moon was stained red from the smoke. The stars were no longer visible.

Sephiroth was in the center of it all. The enemy attacked him ruthlessly but that didn't matter to him…he wanted them to fight to their best. It wouldn't matter anyway. The masamune sang as it sailed through the air easily. These soldiers he fought were beginning to fear the blade. Relentlessly he pushed forward.

Only a handful of his soldiers were around him. Only there if needed but fighting none the less. After a few minutes he stopped and stood watching the battle around him. One of the newest SOLDIERs was close by. Their sword was swinging effortlessly through the air. It was a long blade…with a glow like that of Mako around it…the Llevar-gato.

A face suddenly appeared in his mind. Bright green eyes…royal blue hair…white markings around the eyes…was this a memory of some kind…? From where? He shook his head and swung his blade again.

The battle raged on…

                                    ****

* Llevar-gato…(I think it's right…?) it's supposed to be Spanish and it means bear-cat…in the dictionary bear-cat means a person or thing having exceptional power, strength, energy, etc. Does that fit the sword for a name?)


	9. chapter 9

(Author's Note: Here is the next chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy.)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Cassandra is.

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**Chapter 9**

Yes the battle raged on…and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. Cassandra swung her blade to the side. She danced on her feet to the left to dodge an attack. She caught a glimpse of the general as he looked away and went back to fighting.

Deep inside of her something told her to stop what she was doing and get out of there…but she could never do that. This was part of her duty. Her duty as a soldier…and not just any type of soldier…she was an elite.

The fighting continued for another 3 hours. The Wutain defense refused to even think of just giving up. The number of casualties on that side was almost more than double than that of the soldiers. Cassandra found herself back to back with the general as a swarm of enemy troops attacked him at once. Rockets began to explode close by…they knew now that they couldn't win and were trying to take out the main reason as to why they were losing. General Sephiroth.

This attack was stronger than any of the attacks she had fought against so far. It lasted for quite some time. A rocket exploded about 35 or so feet away. Debris flew up into the air and rained down upon the 2 fighters. 

Something sharp struck her right side. She staggered back into Sephiroth causing him to stumble forward a step. He barely managed to pull back in time but still ended up with a very small cut across his cheek. He glared at that enemy soldier…who couldn't run fast enough.

"Watch what you're doing!" he snapped at the one behind him.

"Sorry sir!" she said glancing at him over her shoulder.

He met her gaze for a second. "I…know you," he said turning to continue fighting.

"Umm…yes sir…I'm a new SOLDIER…you told me that you would be keeping an eye on me when you made an inspection of the new recruits," she said just a hair worried about his sudden comment.

 "No…I know you from somewhere else…don't I?"

"…no sir…"

"I think I do…but I can't place where," he said.

"You might be confused sir. I've never met you before until that day you inspected the new recruits," she said.

"I'm pretty sure I do."

"I'm sorry sir but you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!!"

"NO!!"

"YES!!!"

"NO!!!"

"…you're disagreeing with a higher ranking officer you know that right?" Sephiroth stated calmly.

"…grrrrrrrrrrrrr…you don't know me…" Cassandra said.

"Oh yes I do…a year ago you convinced me to leave Midgar…but…I think we were caught…? I can't really remember what all happened…" Sephiroth trailed off as he tried to remember.

Cassandra slowly looked around at their surroundings. They were still fighting while they talked but had failed to notice that they were completely surrounded by the enemy troops. As strange as it seemed some of what the general had been saying sounded…familiar…? But she didn't know him…did she? For a moment she searched her mind and seemed to find a wall blocking her thoughts. She couldn't really remember anything that led up to where that wall might have come from. But she did remember one…they had received their swords on the same day… It couldn't be…could it? That one memory leaked through the wall…but where had that wall come from?

"Hojo," she heard Sephiroth growl.

"Oh yes…him…" she replied in the same tone. Memories rushed back to her. But one question formed in her mind. "How did we recover our memories of each other?" she thought aloud.

"That's one question I'm not sure about…maybe our argument?" he said swinging his sword.

"That's a possibility," she said pulling her sword away from a soldier and blocking an attack from the next one.

"No more time to talk…we've been surrounded," he said,

"Oh! You're just now noticing that?" she said.

"Look at that. You're back to normal," he said.

"I thought you said no more talking."

He shook his head and they both fell silent. They began to fight harder. For a few minutes it seemed as if there was no end to the soldiers they fought but then after awhile their numbers began to dwindle.

"Finally!" she said.

"Don't relax yet. It isn't over," he said.

"Oh well," she mumbled and dodged a spell. She cast the same spell and sent it at the soldier who had just tried to hit her with it. After another hour of fighting had passed there were no more soldiers around them to fight. Except for 4 that were running at them. Sephiroth suddenly staggered back a few steps rubbing at his eyes angrily. The four men let out a victorious cry as he dropped masamune still rubbing his eyes. Cassandra spun on her heel and darted forward. They weren't expecting her.

"What's wrong Sephiroth?" she asked when all 4 had been dealt with.

"One of them threw dirt in my eyes before I could attack," he said. She shook her head. "There," he said when he stopped rubbing his eyes.

"Got all the dirt out?" she asked trying not to laugh.

"Yeah…looks like we're done here. Let's move to another place," he said bending to pick up his sword. A sudden pain went through her leaving her feeling dizzy and sick. "What's wrong?" he asked looking up at her and his hand just about to grasp the hilt of masamune.

"I…don't…"

"You're hurt!"  Sephiroth braced her against him when she started to sink to the ground.

"I…didn't notice it before. I knew something had hit me but…" she said seeing the wound on her right side.

"How long have you had this?" he asked.

 "Just…before we had our argument…yeah. I had hit you from behind," she said.

"You've had this wound for over an hour!" he said looking at it.

"It's just a scratch," she said pushing away from him.

"It's more than that. The bleeding mostly stopped by itself though…just let me look at it," he said.

"Fine," she said. He knelt in front of her as she turned to the side. He narrowed his eyes as he got a closer look at it.

"Sit down," he said.

"Why? I'm fine," she said.

"Oh sure. You've just fought for over an hour with a piece of metal from something embedded in your side. You're just fine," he said his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She rolled her eyes as he straightened. "Really it's numb anyway. I can't feel it," she said.

"I don't care. You're going back to the camp to get medical attention," he said.

"No."

"Cassandra…that's an order." His voice left no place for argument. She nodded and stepped away from him to start back to the camp. She had only taken a few steps with a victory cry for Shinra began to ring through the air. She turned around to see Sephiroth standing before 2 soldiers. These soldiers stood on either side of Godo…the ruler of Wutai.

"This is one fight that I cannot win…we have lost so many friends and family this night…there will be no more…you have won…general Sephiroth," Godo said with a bowed head.

Sephiroth nodded. "No more harm will come upon this town this night. You may return to your house Lord Godo," he said.

Godo turned and the 2 soldiers escorted him back to the town. The soldiers of Shinra began to gather around Sephiroth in a big circle.  He walked over to where Cassandra stood.

"Well…now I can make sure you get back to camp," he said so only she heard.

"Oh goody," she grumbled. He shook his head and they took a step.

She sensed it before she realized it. Everything seemed to slow down…to go into slow motion. She saw the flash of fire before she heard the ringing sound of the gun going off. She shoved Sephiroth to the ground. The SOLDIERs around them let out angry yells and followed after the enemy sniper trying to stop him.

Cassandra staggered backwards a step. Her breath caught…it was hard to release it and take another. She never felt Sephiroth catch her as she fell and her consciousness slipped away…

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	10. chapter 10

(Author's Note: Hey! Sorry for leaving off in bad places there…it…*might*…not happen again…*evil smile*…but really I'll try to leave off in good places from now on. Enjoy chapter 10!)

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft! And as usual Cassandra is mine!

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**Chapter 10**

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Sephiroth leaned back in the uncomfortable chair in the eye hurting white room. This room was in the hospital ward of the Shinra tower. For almost a week everyday he sat in this chair. Cassandra was still as she lay in the bed across the room from him.

Her skin was white. So white that the markings around her eyes stood out even more. Not once during this week had she regained consciousness. He was beginning to think that she wouldn't wake. The doctor that had taken care of her had talked to him after he was done with stitching her wounds. He had said that the piece of metal hadn't been very big and hadn't caused a lot of damage. Neither had the bullet that had hit her in the chest. The bullet that would have hit him had she not pushed him out of the way.

He shifted until he was more comfortable. He wanted to drift to sleep for a few minutes to completely forget about what had happened. Just as he was closing his eyes the door on his left opened. He was beside the door and now was hidden behind it.

Hojo walked over to Cassandra. "I don't get it…how did you 2 recover your memories? It doesn't make sense. But…it won't matter…I'll deal with you now while you're defenseless," Hojo smirked and pulled a syringe out of his lab coat pocket.

"And just what do you plan on doing with that?" Sephiroth asked in a low voice. Hojo froze and slowly turned to look at him. Sephiroth stood and closed the door with his foot as he took a few steps forward.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here," Hojo said darkly.

"Same here," Sephiroth said standing at his full height.

"Why don't you go and find something useful to do with your time," Hojo said taking one step back towards Cassandra.

"My thoughts for you exactly. But…you wouldn't listen to me would you?"

"No…I'm sorry to say that this creature," Hojo waved his hand at her, "has become a failure. I need to get rid of it before it ruins other experiments of mine."

"Get out of here. If I catch you near her again I'll kill you…and it won't be a quick death," Sephiroth said in a deadly tone.

"My my…I was correct…she's already ruined one of my experiments," Hojo said starting to turn his back to Sephiroth. The next thing he knew was that he was grabbed by the back of the neck and turned around. He was eye level with Sephiroth.

"If you try to do anything to her I will give you hundreds of cuts smaller than paper cuts and tear you limb from limb…got it?" Sephiroth snarled. Hojo paled and nodded numbly. "Now get out of here…masamune is over there…I might just change my mind about what I said and just do it." Hojo was dropped on his feet.

He fled the room shaking and his fists clenched while his face was beet red in anger slamming the door behind him. Sephiroth watched the door for a few minutes to make sure he was gone.  A slight groan behind him made him turn. Cassandra's head turned to the side but her eyes were still closed.

"Cassandra?" he asked moving closer to the bedside. Her eyes fluttered as she turned her head to face the voice.

"Sephiroth?" 

"You're awake. How do you feel?" he asked.

She started to shrug but winced and stopped the movement. "I feel…tired," she said with a weak smile.

"But you're awake. You'll be fine. The doctor said you'll recover faster if you don't try to do too much. You'll stay here for a few days and then if the doctor says so you'll be released," he told her.

"All right. How long have I been out?" she asked.

"A week…you're lucky you know that? You didn't have to take that bullet," he said.

"I know but you're the general…the most important thing to your troops," she said.

"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that…"

"What?"

"…"

"Thought so," she gave a slight nod.

"Well…you didn't have to do that. You shouldn't have done that," he said,

"And why not?" she asked.

"I was perfectly capable of dodging it," he said.

"Oh forgive me if at the time it didn't look like you could!"

"You know what? We'll just talk about this later," he said and walked to the door picking masamune up from where it leaned in the corner. The door shut softly behind him.

"What's there to talk about? Oh…you can't even admit that you're thankful," she laughed softly to herself.

                                    ****

"Promise?"

"Yeah…when you become a SOLDIER…will you rescue me whenever I'm in trouble?"

"I promise! I will!"

"Thank you! I'll hold you to it!"

"And I'll keep it!" the boy ran towards the town's entrance and the SOLDIER recruiter.

The girl watched after him.

"I'll hold you to that promise Cloud Strife," she whispered. The boy reached the gate and turned to look at the well in the town's center. He waved one last time.

"I promise you Tifa!" he said. She waved back with a smile on her face.

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	11. chapter 11

(Author's Note: Hello! It might start to take me 2 days to get a new chapter up now since I got the new Harry Potter book…I'll try to keep up with one a day but yeah…it might not work…here's chapter 11!)

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Cassandra I do.

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**Chapter 11**

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5 days later…

Cassandra sighed as she sat down on the edge of her bed in her room within the soldier's quarters of the Shinra complex. She was finally free of that hospital. The only downside of this was that she wouldn't be able to practice any drills for a while longer…the next month to be exact. All she could really do was walk around and watch the drills being practiced. Oh well…the new recruits were arriving today. Sephiroth or Zack would inspect them and then for the next 2 years they would go through basic training…and she was one of the SOLDIERs who would be instructing them.

"Oh joy," she said aloud dully. There was a knock on the door to her room. "Enter," she called.

Sephiroth came in and closed the door behind him. "How are you doing today?" he asked.

"Better. What brings you here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I guess I came to warn you," he said.

"Warn me? Of what?"

"Hojo."

"That pushover?"

"Yes him…the day you woke up…just before you did he tried to kill you," he said.

"So?"

"He said you were ruining his experiments…I just came to warn you that he's still watching you're every move even though I threatened him while telling him not to. You'll have to watch yourself," he said.

"I can handle Hojo," she said not really worried about it.

"You're still injured. You'll have to be careful…he'll do anything to get rid of you if he starts to think you're causing a problem," he said.

"Big deal."

"Cassandra…"

"Fine! I'll watch my back," she said.

"It would be best if you just stayed away from me."

She just looked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"He said you were ruining his experiments with me…"

"Don't worry. I can handle myself in a fight," she said.

"I know. Just a warning," he said.

"I listened," she said.

"Well I need to be going," he said and turned to the door.

"Yeah. Thanks I guess," she said as he left.

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"So…what's your name?" Zack asked.

"I'm Cloud," the spiky blonde haired 14 year old boy said.

"Well Cloud. You want to be a SOLDIER?" Zack asked. 

"Yep! I wanna be just like Sephiroth!" Cloud said.

"Why just like him?"

"Uhh…you see…back home…"

"Oohhhhh…you wanna impress a lady," Zack said with a wink.

"Yeah," Cloud said with a faint blush.

"Well don't you worry! I can give you some tips on that," Zack winked again.

"Really?" Cloud asked.

"Sure thing."

"Thanks!" Cloud said as he followed Zack down the hall.

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She dove into a shadow in a nearby alley. The men in blue suits, Turks as they were called, ran past her hiding spot. When she was sure they were gone she crept out of her hiding place and made her way back to the old church. Once there she walked to the center of the old run down building. She knelt down in a patch of soil that was bathed in sunlight.

She sighed and let the familiar presence fill her thoughts. "Planet…why are they after me?" she asked.

_'You'll know in time my child,' _came the response. 

Aeris sighed again. "Very well then," she said as she stood and looked at her flowers.

It was time to meet Zack. Should she tell him of her troubles? The planet's presence left her.

No…she wouldn't tell him. If she did he would only worry more…especially on the day she would be caught…and she knew that day was coming. It was only a matter of time.

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2 months later…

"You're fully healed now," the doctor said.

"Good. Now I can get back to doing what I'm supposed to be doing besides teach basic training," Cassandra said.

"Just keep in mind that the wound on your side could open again if you are under too much stress. At least for the next month or so with that," he said.

"Oh well. See ya," she said as she left the room. She walked back to the training center. It was time to yell at the new recruits…again.

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2 years later…

Sephiroth sighed and dropped his pen.

"What's up?" Zack asked.

"This…Cloud Strife? Anyway. He hasn't passed a single test yet," Sephiroth said.

"Oh him. He seems like he should be doing good but…he's got a little too much energy. But he's cool. Hangs out with me a lot," Zack said.

"I noticed," Sephiroth said dryly.

"But I take it that he'll have to go through the basics again?" Zack asked.

"Until he passes the tests yes," Sephiroth said.

"Poor Cloud," Zack said with a slow shake of his head.

"Don't worry. We'll put him in the bunch that Cassandra instructs," Sephiroth said.

"What about my bunch?" They both looked to the door of the office. Cassandra stood in the door way leaning against it with her arms folded and a raised eye brow.

"Oh we're just talking about one of the recruits from 2 years ago. Hasn't passed any tests yet," Sephiroth said.

"Oh I'm sure you are," she said walking into the room and setting another packet of papers in front of him.

"What's that?" Zack asked.

"More tests for you 2 to look over," she said with an evil grin as she walked back towards the door.

"Oh joy. More headaches," Sephiroth said sarcastically. She just smiled and started to leave. "Cassandra wait. Stay and talk for awhile," he said.

"But you said Hojo…"

"Who cares? We haven't had a decent conversation for awhile now," he said.

"Oh…fine," she said and walked back into the room to take a seat in front of the desk next to Zack.

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	12. chapter 12

(Author's Note: Well…this chapter is longer than I thought it would be…umm…not much to say…here's the next chapter…)

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft! Cassandra and Navarro yes.

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**Chapter 12**

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2 years later…

"And what exactly do you want with me?" Cassandra said impatiently.

"Oh I'm just trying something new," Hojo said.

"Like what?"

"Well…it's a new experiment really," he said.

"So who's your guinea pig this time?" she asked.

"…you."

"What?"

"You. I'm going to be testing some things on you."

"Two words…fat…chance."

"You don't have a choice."

"Whatever!" she said backing towards the door to leave the lab. She turned around when she bumped into someone. Navarro stood behind her.

"As I said you don't have a choice," Hojo said with a wave of his hand.

She had glanced at him over her shoulder but returned her attention to Navarro when he grabbed her by her shoulders. "I don't like you and you know it," she snarled.

"Oh I know it all right. And the feelings mutual. But I have my orders," Navarro said a little too calm for her.

"THAT'S IT!" Cassandra tackled Navarro and pinned him to the floor.

"Oh look…she pinned me down," he smirked. She was about to punch him in the face when he tightened his grip on her shoulders and used his feet to launch her over his head. She landed on her back.  He flipped over so now he was on top of her. "Not so tough now are ya?" he asked.

"Get off of me and I'll show you!" she snapped.

"You're all bark but no bite, aren't you?"

"…WHAT?!"

Hojo watched them wrestling on the floor with some interest. He stood well out of the way. The fight continued for several minutes. Navarro finally had her pinned underneath him on her stomach with one arm twisted behind her back.

"Let me go!" she snapped still struggling.

"Better hurry up Hojo. I can't hold her like this forever," Navarro said ignoring her. Hojo walked over with a syringe filled with a clear liquid. 

Cassandra caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you dare stick me with that!"

"Shut up," Hojo said and the needle pierced the skin of her arm. A haze seemed to cover her vision for a few seconds. "Done," she heard Hojo say. Then everything came back into focus. She snapped. Navarro was thrown off of her as she tackled Hojo and began to beat him. "Get her off!" he yelled at Navarro.

He got to his feet and grabbed her. He managed to pull her off only to have her turn on him. For a minute he frantically dodged her blows but then she stopped and swayed. Hojo was sitting up glaring at her.

"What did…you do…to…me……" she slowly began to collapse. Navarro caught her.

"It's about time that drug took affect. Put her on the table," Hojo said standing. Navarro lifted her up and did as told.

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"Oh…my…gosh…" Sephiroth stared at the papers in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked.

"Strife…he failed again," Sephiroth said.

"You're kidding right?"

"Hardly. I'm surprised that Cassandra didn't throw him out," Sephiroth said.

"Let me see those papers," Zack said. Sephiroth handed them to him and started to look at the next set. After a few minutes Zack looked up at him. "Maybe I should give him a few more pointers," he said.

"Be my guest," Sephiroth said.

"Yeah…I think I will," Zack said with a strange look on his face as he left the room. Sephiroth just shook his head.

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Cassandra groaned softly as she open her eyes. Everything was spinning and she felt like being sick. She also felt tired. She slowly sat up and looked around. She was in her room. She moved her feet to the floor and looked around not really seeing anything. What had Hojo done to her this time?

…had he done something to her because she had been talking to Sephiroth a little more this past week than normally? She started to stand but fell back down on her bed. She decided to rest a few more minutes but that 'few more minutes' turned into hours.

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_'Soon…'_

"What?" Sephiroth stopped walking and looked around. No one else was in the hall except for him. He frowned and kept going towards his destination.

_'Soon my son…' _He stopped again and looked around._ Nothing.__ He continued.___

_'Soon my son this planet…' _Sephiroth stopped and spun around._ No one was there again.He shook his head trying to clear it of thoughts that he didn't know he had.___

"Sephiroth! I've been looking all over for you!"

He turned to see Zack coming towards him down the hall. "Yes Zack?" he asked.

"I just saw that Navarro dude with Cassandra," Zack said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah…he was carrying her. Looked like he was headed for the SOLDIER's quarters," Zack said.

"Do you know what happened?" Sephiroth asked. The voice he had been hearing seemed to fall silent.

Zack shook his head. "No. That's all I saw," he said.

"Hmm…I'm just going to see if she's all right," Sephiroth said starting down the hall again.

"Hojo might have done something…that's the direction Navarro was headed away from," Zack said. Sephiroth only nodded in response and his pace quickened. He found himself at the door to her room in almost no time at all. He listened for any noises from inside but heard nothing.

"Cassandra?" he called and knocked on the door. He didn't get an answer. He looked around then opened the door and went in. The first room he came to was half a living area and half a kitchen. There was a short hall that went left at the kitchen.  He followed it and passed a bathroom. At the end of the hall was the closed door that led to her bedroom. He knocked on it.

He heard a sound like someone moving. "Cassandra?"

"…yeah?"

He opened the door. She was sitting up in the bed with her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so," she said.

"What happened? Zack saw Navarro carrying you here," he said.

"Hojo wanted to see me about something so I went. I had a fight with Navarro and got a few punches in on Hojo. They drugged me I guess…I don't know what happened after that," she said.

"How do you feel?" he asked. She slowly lowered her hands and looked at him with a dull look. "Okay. That was a stupid question. But you don't know what he did to you?" he said.

"No clue," she said.

"I guess I'll have to ask him then won't I?" he said.

"Don't…I think he did whatever he did because I was around you a lot the past week…he'll know you were with me again if you confront him about it," she said.

"…you're right. Tell me if he does anything else, k?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yeah. But…maybe we could talk through Zack? It might not be for awhile before you find out if he does this again so we can have Zack keep an eye out for trouble too," Cassandra said.

"I'll talk to him. You look tired. Why don't you just rest?" he said.

"I'm going to whether you let me or not," she said rubbing her forehead.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine for now," she said standing.

He stood up too and caught as she swayed close to falling over. "Easy," he said as she leaned against him.

"Yeah sure," she said.

For a moment he did nothing then slowly he wrapped his arms around her holding her against him. For a few moments they stood like that. "Cassandra?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" she raised her head from where it had been resting against his chest to see his face.

"…are you all right?" he asked changing what he was going to say.

She simply nodded. He frowned. Her face was a little pale and her eyes had a glaze to them. He put his hand on the side of her face then on her forehead.

"Fever…you need to lie down," he said and helped her. He looked at her and went to the bathroom. He came back with a cool damp cloth. Her eyes were already closed as he placed it on her forehead. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "I think you're pushing you're luck Hojo…luck you don't even have," he said to himself.

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(A/N: Now…let's see a raise of hands in who thinks I should have Sephy carry out his earlier threat at Hojo or…let Cassandra kill him?)


	13. chapter 13

(Author's Note: Another reviewer!!!! Thanks everyone for reviewing this story! It means a lot when you get good reviews! Well…all I'm doing is trying to pass time so sorry if the chapter is a little boring…I ran out of ideas…(or maybe they ran away from me…?) Anyway! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. Anything else is mine.

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**Chapter 13**

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It was nearing 3 a.m. according to the clock next to Cassandra's bed. She pulled the dry cloth off her forehead and gave it a confused look. She set it on the table next to the bed and started to sit up but a weight around her waist stopped her. She looked down. An arm was wrapped around her waist. She followed the arm to its owner.

Sephiroth was next to her sound asleep. She gave a small smile and laid back down just staring at the ceiling. After a few minutes she had drifted back to sleep.

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Next morning…

Sephiroth sat up and rubbed he eyes. He looked beside him and found Cassandra still asleep. He didn't remember falling asleep last night.

_'Oh well,' _he thought as he got up. He silently headed for the door. Before he left he put a note on the kitchen counter.

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Cassandra woke up and hour later. She went to the bathroom and showered then changed into clean clothes when she noticed that Sephiroth was gone. She went to the kitchen when she was done to get something for breakfast.

There she found the note that was written in a cursive handwriting.

_Cassandra-_

_Meet me in the training center after lunch._

_Sephiroth _

She smiled to herself as she fixed her breakfast.

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"So…you want me to keep an eye out for anything wrong with Cassandra?" Zack asked just to make sure he had heard right.

"Yeah. Hojo did something to her. I just want you to keep an eye out and if you see anything like that again to tell me ASAP," Sephiroth said as he polished his sword.

"No problem," Zack said.

"Thanks. Now don't you have to go work with Cloud?" 

"Oh yeah…" Zack gave a slight smirk as Cassandra entered the training room and he left.

"You wanted to see me sir," she said when she reached Sephiroth.

"Care to spar?" he asked.

"As you wish," she said and pulled her sword from its sheath.

                                    ****

1 month later…

_'Sephiroth…my son…help me…' _Sephiroth shook his head to get rid of the thoughts that drifted through his head. He had heard this voice for the past month and was getting annoyed at it.__

_'Yeah well maybe I don't want to help you so shut up,' _he thought.

The voice fell silent. He stopped when Zack came running towards him. 

"Sephiroth…I just…saw Navarro…with…her…again!" he said between gasps for breath.

"What?" Sephiroth asked.

"You heard me! I saw Cassandra with Navarro!" 

"How was Cassandra?"

"Out cold from the looks of it," Zack said finally getting his breath back.

"Where was he going?" Sephiroth asked.

"Back to her room," Zack said.

"She must have gone to Hojo's lab again. But why?" Sephiroth asked more to himself.

"I heard talk about a new experiment. You don't think…" Zack let the thought hang.

"It's quite possible. I'll ask Cassandra about it," Sephiroth said starting down the hall.

Zack shook his head. "I wouldn't if I were you. Navarro's watching the door making sure no one goes in," he said.

Sephiroth stopped then nodded. "She can take care of herself for awhile. I'll talk to her when I next see her," he said.

                                    ****

Next day…

"Cassandra?"

Her head snapped up to see who was speaking to her. "Oh…hey Sephiroth," she said as he sat down on the bench next to her in the recreation room. (You know that room with the trees and stuff.)

 "I want to ask you about what Hojo is doing to you. Do you know anything?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I've been drugged every time. I have no clue as to what he's doing but…I don't like it…"

"Every time?"

"This was only the second time. He told me this time that I was to report to him once a month for whatever he's doing," she said.

"Don't go," he said.

She gave a short cold laugh. "You know as well as I do that he'll have some soldiers drag me to his lab if I don't," she said.

He nodded. "You're right…just try and find out what he's doing," he said standing.

"I will," she said as he walked away.

                                    ****

"Now Cloud…what do you do if a monster is chasing you?" Zack asked.

"Umm…Oh I know this one! You…run faster?" Cloud said.

"No…try a different answer," Zack said dully.

"Okay…you fight back?"

"Well yes but…"

"I GOT IT RIGHT!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Cloud suddenly was cowering down as Cassandra smirked and walked past.

Zack sighed and shook his head slowly. "Let's try that one again…what do you do when a monster is chasing you?" he said.

"Lemme think about it," Cloud said. Zack groaned.

                                    ****


	14. chapter 14

(Author's Note: Well…here's chapter 14…thanks for reading it this far! This one is probably the longest one yet. Enjoy!)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Cassandra and Navarro are.

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**Chapter 14**

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2 years later…

"ATTENTION!"

"YES MA'AM!"

"Good…these recruits do learn unlike some," Cassandra said to herself as she rolled her eyes at Cloud. All the recruits stood stock still. "Now begin your drills," she yelled at them so they could hear. They did as told. "No no NO NO!" she yelled. A few of them faltered.

"STRIFE! DO IT RIGHT!"

"Yes ma'am," he said weakly.

This went on for another 2 hours. "HALT!" she yelled. They stopped and stood at attention. "You are dismissed for today," she said and turned to head back inside. A few sighed in relief.

                                    ****

"You're not yourself today," Zack pointed out.

"I know," Sephiroth said looking at a few tests.

"So what's bothering you?" Zack asked. Sephiroth just looked at him. "Oh that…so what's Hojo doing to her?" Zack said.

Sephiroth put the papers down. "He won't even tell her. He's had her go to his lab every month the past 2 years…I'm about ready to go talk to him myself. I probably should have a long time ago," Sephiroth said.

"But it doesn't really seem to have changed her any you know. Except for what you told me of her reaction to it that seems to be the only thing that happens," Zack said as Sephiroth picked up the papers again.

"Yeah. You could be right," Sephiroth said. The room was completely silent for about 5 minutes except for the sound of paper and pens moving. "Well would you look at that…Cloud Strife finally passed," Sephiroth said.

Zack just shook his head.

                                    ****

Cassandra slowly opened the door to her room. She glared at Navarro who was standing in front of her now.

"My my. You don't seem happy to see me," he said.

"I'm not. You're helping Hojo. I don't like him so I don't like you," she growled.

"Oh I see how it is," he said faking hurt.

"Don't push me," she said with the same growl.

"If you're trying to scare me it's not working. Hojo…"

"I'm not going to that lab!"

He raised an eye brow. "You know you'll just end up being dragged there kicking and screaming like a little kid," he said.

"Go away!" she hissed and slammed the door shut in his face.

He smirked.

                                    ****

"Hey Sephiroth?"

"Yes Zack?" Sephiroth said as he was interrupted…again.

"I was just thinking…" Zack said.

"About what?"

"Hojo should have Cassandra about now…"

Sephiroth looked down at the papers on his desk still. "This isn't anything that can't wait till tomorrow," he said standing.

Zack stood too. "This way. I'll show you where I usually see them," Zack said as they left the office and started down the hall.

                                    ****

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Oh quit yelling. It's not going to do you any good," Navarro said locking the door as he closed it behind him.

"Get out of here NOW! I'm not going to that lab!" Cassandra snapped.

"Who said we were going to the lab?" he asked.

"What?" she hissed.

"Oh indeed today you would be going to see Hojo but…there's been a change of plan," Navarro said coolly.

"Then you have no reason to be here," she snapped.

"Oh but I do have a reason…you're not the only one being used in his current experiment," he said.

"What?" she said slightly confused.

"Oh yes…he's also been doing some testing on me," Navarro said.

"But why should I care?" she snapped her temper coming back to her.

"I've received some orders from Hojo and intend to follow them," he said.

"Well why don't you go do that then," she said sarcastically.

"I am," he said.

"What? Making me mad? Is that what you're supposed to be doing?" she laughed.

"Laugh it up," he said crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.

"I am!" she said still laughing at the thought that Hojo wanted to see how mad she would get just because someone was bugging her. For a minute all she could do was laugh. She stopped abruptly when she noticed he was standing right in front of her. She took a small step back out of surprise.

"Now…Hojo's orders," Navarro said.

"What do you want?" she growled.

"You'll see…" he trailed off.

The next thing she knew was that he had her pinned to the floor. "Get off of me!" she snapped.

"Oh hush," he whispered in her ear.

"NO! YOU GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW!" she yelled struggling to get out from under him. Her struggle was useless.

"STOP!" he yelled in her face.

"YOU…!" he silenced her with a back handed slap to the side of her face. There was complete silence as for a moment she was completely stunned as she looked the other way. Slowly she turned her head to look up at him. "How…dare…you…" she said in barely concealed rage. They glared at each other in still complete silence.

                                    ****

"They should be coming any time now," Zack said.

"Maybe they already went past," Sephiroth said.

"Could be…I'll see if Navarro is in his usual hiding place," Zack said and walked away. 

Sephiroth walked to the door. He listened but there was no sound coming from inside. "I don't think there's anyone here," he said as Zack walked back up to him.

"Navarro's not in his usual spot. Maybe they are in there…you just can't hear them because they aren't making any noise," Zack said with a shrug.

"That could be. I'll just come back later," Sephiroth said.

"Or you could just go right on in."

Sephiroth stopped. "Or that," he sighed and went back to the door.

                                    ****

"Get off," Cassandra said trying to sound calm.

"Not until I have carried out my orders," Navarro said in the same tone.

"And what exactly are your orders?"

"Oh you'll see…"

Before she could do anything he had kissed her. She stared at him for a second in shock. But then her senses came to. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"Hojo's orders," he smirked.

"NO!" she yelled at him trying to get out from under him.

There was a thud on the door. "Cassandra!" it was Sephiroth.

"GET OFF OF ME!" she yelled as Navarro forced her down again.

"Zack! The doors locked!" they heard Sephiroth say.

"I'll be right back!" Zack replied and they heard him running down the hall.

"LET GO!" Cassandra yelled even louder.

"SHUT UP!" Navarro roared and slapped her again.

The door creaked as Sephiroth pushed his weight against it. "Cassandra!" he yelled when he heard the slap.

Navarro's slap had stunned her a bit as her head had hit the floor hard. She saw stars and things were kinda spinning. Navarro was ignoring Sephiroth and kissing her neck.

"Stop it!" she managed to say while trying to focus and push him away. Navarro ignored her too. "STOP IT!" she screamed.

He slapped her for the third time. The door gave way as Sephiroth rammed his shoulder against it. It crashed to the floor broken off its hinges. Navarro jumped to his feet pulling Cassandra up with him. He held her against him and he faced Sephiroth.

"Let her go," he said in a deadly tone.

"Come and get her," Navarro sneered and rubbed his face in her hair. She shuddered and tried to push away from him without success. The next thing Navarro knew was that he was pinned to the wall with the masamune blade at his throat. Cassandra took a shaky breath and sank to her knees.

"I don't like you and you just gave me the perfect reason to kill you," Sephiroth snarled his eyes a solid block of ice.

"I'm only following orders. And since you still seem to care for her I'll just have to tell Hojo about this once I take care of you," Navarro said his hand moving to his sword hilt.

"I bested you years ago. I'll do so again!" Sephiroth jumped back to dodge his attack and began one of his own. The blades were flying fast and sparks were seen every time they met. Navarro tried to back Sephiroth into Cassandra but Sephiroth avoided the move and delivered a blow to Navarro's shoulder.

Cassandra watched. Her own sword was a few feet away still in the same place she had set it down from earlier. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach but she didn't move from her spot on the floor.

Sephiroth was winning easily. He was pushing Navarro harder and harder until Navarro was too exhausted to keep up with him. He tried to hit Sephiroth's side with his sword but misjudged…and the masamune found the mark it had been waiting to hit…

Sephiroth pulled his blade from Navarro's chest and cleaned it on a spot of Navarro's shirt that wasn't stained. He turned to face Cassandra…in time to see the tip of her sword disappear from the doorway. He ran out into the hall and looked to the left. She just disappeared around the corner. He ran to catch her but by the time he had reached the corner she was nowhere in sight. He stood there for only a few seconds before Zack came running up with another SOLDIER.

"What happened? Where's…" Zack stopped at the look Sephiroth gave him.

"…clean up in that room for me…I have some paper work to do yet…" Sephiroth said softly and disappeared down the hall. Zack just nodded and watched after him…knowing what had just happened.

                                                ****


	15. chapter 15

(Author's Note: Hello! Here's the next chapter…oh! I was thinking…well actually this was Rueh's idea more than anything but I'm planning on probably having 2 endings to this story…one will be tragic…the other will be happier! What do you all think? I'd like to have your opinions on this. Any other ideas are welcome too! Just e-mail me or put them in your review! Thanks and Thanks to Rueh for the 2 ending idea!)

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 which belongs to Squaresoft. I don't own that either…but think of all that money!! But anything else is mine.

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**Chapter 15**

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3 months later…

"GET IN LINE NOW!" The few soldiers who had been lagging behind didn't hesitate to obey the order. Zack stood a few feet behind Sephiroth and kept a close eye on him. Ever since Cassandra had disappeared it was like this…Sephiroth in a mood that left no room for arguments or horseplay from the troops.  Everything had to be perfect or you had to face the temperamental General…and no excuses would help you…they would only make matters worse if anything.

 Zack sighed as Sephiroth made the soldiers do more drills. Today and for the rest of the week they were out in the field.

Sephiroth glanced at him over his shoulder. "Zack."

"Yes sir?"

"Go put Strife in line or I will."

"Yes sir," Zack said and he walked down the small hill they stood on to go put Cloud back in line.

Sephiroth then stood alone on top of the hill. He watched the troops without really seeing them. _'Why did you leave? Cassandra…why did you?' he thought for about the millionth time._

_'You don't need that one…only me my son,' _the voice said in his thoughts.

_'And what have you to give to me?' _he asked mockingly.

_'Power beyond your wildest dreams…god ship…'_

_'Why am I not interested?' _Sephiroth let out a snort.

_'Oh you will be interested my son…'_

_'Why do you keep calling me that? I don't know who you are and really don't care.'_

_'I am Jenova…your mother.' _The voice said gently.

_'My…mother…? How could this be that I am talking to you in my thoughts when I don't know you at all?'_

_'Never mind that. Will you help me? She'll return to you if you are the most powerful being on this planet…its ruler.'_

_'…I don't want that. She'll come back on her own. She was just upset…'_

_'But can you really believe that? She ran away from you. You are alone.'_

_'I've always been alone. Why should it matter now?' _But Sephiroth knew that these words weren't true as he thought them.

_'You've always been alone. Nobody cares about you. Nobody at all…except for me…my son,' _the voice said.

_'Why should I believe that you are my mother?'_

_'Sephiroth! You injure me! How could you say such a thing to me?'_

_'As we have both said I have always been alone…not even you were there.'_

_'I've always been with you. You just haven't realized it,' _the voice said.

_'No…'_

_'You can't turn your back on me. I'm your mother after all. It's my responsibility to care for you and give you what your heart desires.'_

_'How would you even know what I want?' _Sephiroth asked annoyed.

_'I know your deepest wishes…'_

_'No you don't. If you knew them and you have always been with me why did you not grant my wishes and save me?'_

_'I was unable for I myself am trapped against my will…I…'_

_'Leave. I don't want to hear any of your pathetic excuses for what you could never do. I have better things to do than to get a headache from talking to you,' _Sephiroth said.

_'Very well. I'll leave…but I'll come back to talk again,' _the voice of Jenova slowly faded from his mind.

Sephiroth sighed. Ever since Cassandra had left the voice had become more persistent in talking to him. It haunted his dreams and was even heard in the voices of others he talked to. It was getting annoying and even harder to ignore.

_'I must be going mad…now that you're gone…' _he thought and turned his attention to the new drill being practiced at the bottom of the hill.

                                    ****

Hojo growled in frustration and threw a note book across the lab. She had been gone for 3 months. Three months! Those 3 months were now wasted! Navarro was gone to…killed by Sephiroth. Sephiroth…it all came down to him.

_'If he hadn't interfered with Cassandra and my experiments I would have been closer to disposing of her by now,' _Hojo thought angrily. He laughed to himself at what he could be doing right at that moment. He suddenly stopped and turned to the countertop that was only a few feet from where he stood behind his desk. He looked at the small piece of machinery on top of it his eyes slowly looking over if.

_'Perfect…I had almost forgotten about this,' _he thought to himself as he walked towards it.

                                    ****

"What's Hojo up to?" Shinra asked annoyed. Lately the scientist had been getting on his nerves.

"He says he's found a way to replace the one that ran away," Rufus said and leaned back in his chair.

"A new experiment you mean?" Heidegger asked.

Rufus nodded and shuddered. "I'd hate to be the one he's doing whatever he is to them," he said.

"He just better replace her fast," Shinra said pulling a file towards him from the other side of the desk.

"Yeah. We needed her for our army," Heidegger said and looked at his own paper.

                                    ****


	16. chpater 16

(Author's Note: Hello! This is the next chapter for you all! Thanks for all the reviews! ^_~ )

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft…Cassandra is mine!

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**Chapter 16**

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1 ½ years later…

"…what?"

"You heard me. We've received orders to go to Nibelheim to fix the malfunctioning reactor," Sephiroth said looking up at Zack from where he sat in his chair behind his desk.

Zack stood in front of his desk. "Well…why can't they just get a bunch of scientists to go? Why do they need you and me to go?" he said sitting down.

"Who knows how Shinra thinks. We've got one other who goes with us," Sephiroth said.

"And that would be? Any one but Hojo," Zack said.

"I honestly don't care who goes with us. You pick," Sephiroth said shaking his head.

"Hmm…Cloud Strife?"

"Why him?"

"He's a friend of mine and it's his home town we'll be going to," Zack said with a shrug.

"Very well. Tell him we leave first thing tomorrow morning," Sephiroth said.

"Yes sir," Zack said and left the room.

_'Tomorrow…will you set me free?'_

_'You know what? SHUT UP!'_

_'Don't you dare use that tone with me! I'm your mother!'_

_'HA! You're nothing but a voice in my head,' _Sephiroth said and waved his hand as if brushing something away from himself. The voice faded with the movement.

                                    ****

Next day…

"…ugh…my stomach…"

"You okay?" Zack asked bending down to see Cloud's face.

"…yeah…motion sickness…ugh…so what are we supposed to do?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Well…you see…I'm clueless about it right now…" Cloud trailed off.

Sephiroth slowly nodded. "I see…well. We're to fix the broken mako reactor and find out why the animals are mutating into monsters," Sephiroth said.

"Oh…what was that?!" Something rammed against the side of the truck again.

"Sir! We're being attacked!" the trucks driver called in a panicked voice.

"Stop the truck!" Sephiroth yelled back and stood from the crate he had been sitting on. The truck came to a halt. "Come on Zack," Sephiroth said sounding bored and left the back of the truck.

"Oh goody! I've wanted to try out my new materia!" Zack said and followed after him. They jumped out of the truck and came face to face with the monster that had attacked the truck. "What is it?" Zack asked and took a step back.

"A dragon," Sephiroth was definitely bored from his tone of voice.

"Oh well," Zack drew his buster sword and ran forward.

"No! Wait!" Sephiroth yelled after him dodging a flame attack from the creature and drawing his own sword. The monster roared as Zack slashed it with his sword. The next thing he knew was that he was thrown backwards by the dragon's tail. Sephiroth sighed and slowly shook his head.

"My sword didn't work!" Zack called to him.

Sephiroth looked at the dragon who was glaring a challenge at him. Raising masamune at the same time he ran forward and leapt into the air. He slashed once then landed smoothly and jumped back out of reach of the dragon's next attack.

"See! It didn't work!" Zack said getting ready to use his new lightning materia.

"Take a second look," Sephiroth said calmly.

Zack did as told. Before his very eyes the dragon's neck severed…and the head fell off. The body crumpled to the ground with such force that the ground shook for a minute or two. Sephiroth turned to where the driver was inspection the truck.

"Well?"

"It'll get us there. We'll have to repair the damage once we get to the town though," the driver said.

"Very well," Sephiroth said and climbed into the back of the truck.

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

Zack had entered after Sephiroth. "I'll tell ya!" he told Cloud what had happened.

When he was done Cloud was looking at Sephiroth with a look of awe on his face. Sephiroth completely ignored him the rest of the trip.

                                    ****

She silently snuck to the fire escape and looked around. There was no one in sight. Good. That meant no one could see her. She went up the fire escape and looked in through the window at the room on the highest level. There was no one in it and no signs that if there were that they might come back.

She picked the window open from the outside and slipped in. She crossed the room to the door and made sure it was locked. She didn't have enough money to rent the room so she had to sneak in and use it. It would only be for awhile anyway…she was just exhausted and wanted to take a short nap. But first…the shower.

                                    ****

2 hours later…

"So…how does it feel?"

"What?" Cloud asked looking at Sephiroth.

"To be back…in your hometown. I don't have a hometown…my father…" Sephiroth started to laugh out loud. Cloud and Zack watched him uneasily. "What does it matter? We are supposed to have a guide to go into the mountains tomorrow. We will meet at dawn. You need to check in at the inn and then you are free to visit any family or friends that you have," Sephiroth said and walked away towards the inn.

"Come on! I'll show you my house once we check in!" Cloud said. Zack shrugged and followed after him. They checked into the inn and then disappeared.

Sephiroth went up the stairs to his room. The door was locked so he unlocked it and went in. He set his sword against the wall and sat down on the foot of the bed.

_'Please set me free?'_

_'How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone?'_

_'But Sephiroth…my son…I'm your mother…we can rule this planet together and get rid of all you oppose you and hurt you,' _Jenova's voice said in his thoughts.

_'I'm not interested,' _Sephiroth replied evenly.

_'Oh you will be…I'll have you convinced whether you like it or not!' _Jenova hissed.

Sephiroth ignored the voice as something kicked him in the back. He slowly turned to see behind himself and the voice faded. There was someone sleeping in the room's only bed. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. The person had the blankets pulled up over their head.

He stood slowly and walked to the side of the bed. He reached down to pull the covers back but stopped when some things caught his eye. There was a wallet on the nightstand beside the bed. Next to that was a pair of boots. Close to those and leaning against the wall was a sword. Sephiroth looked down at the bed and silently moved away to a chair on the other side of the room.

                                    ****

 The room was dark when she awoke…well almost dark. The light on the nightstand beside the bed was on…it was the only light on in the room. She pushed the covers away but didn't get up. There was silence for a few minutes.

"Awake I see."

She sat bolt upright in a flash. "Who's there?" she demanded.

From the corner of the opposite side of the room a pair of glowing green eyes slowly met hers. Her eyes widened and she took a small gasp. He slowly stood and walked to the edge of the lamp light. He stood silently gazing at her. Her eyes were still a bright green but had a dull look that was barely noticeable. Her skin was tanned and the white markings around her eyes stood out because of it. Her royal blue hair was long and hung loose around her shoulders.

"Cassandra…" he said after a minute still not moving.

"…Sephiroth. What are you doing here?" she said. He looked just the same as when she had last seen him. Long silver hair with bangs that peaked above his forehead to fall into his glowing green eyes.

 "I could ask you the same thing," he said.

"But I asked first."

He sighed. "I'm here with 2 others to fix the reactor. Now what about you? Why did you run away?"

"I…had to. It was Hojo's plan…I figured it out when Navarro…I had to leave," she said shaking her head.

"But why?" he asked taking a step forward.

"…so Hojo couldn't use me the way he had planned. And to keep you from getting involved after I figured it out," she said looking at her hands that were in her lap.

"You could have stayed…I would have dealt with Hojo for you…you know that," he said.

"I know," she said in a barely audible voice.

"I wish you would have stayed," he said softly.

"I wish I did too but I couldn't not with…" she suddenly blushed when there was a low rumbling sound.

"Hungry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and slightly amused expression.

"Yeah…I haven't had a good meal for awhile now…I didn't even pay for this room," she said her blush getting deeper.

"Hard to get money?" he asked.

"Yeah. I couldn't walk around in broad daylight with Shinra still wanting my return…but then he gave up. Even then it was hard to find work that suited and met my needs," she said looking up at him.

"I'll call room service…it's only 9:30 at night," he said walking over to the nightstand and reaching for the phone.

"I've been sleeping that long? It was around 3:00 or so when I got here," she said.

"Don't worry about it," he said as the phone call was picked up from another end.

-30 minutes later-

"Yes?" Sephiroth called at the knock on the door.

"R-room service s-sir," the voice on the other side said. He stood up and opened the door. A cart was pushed into the room. He nodded and the door was closed.

"Help your…self," he said but saw that Cassandra was already eating. He smiled and sat down.

-30 minutes later-

Cassandra sighed and sat back in her chair when she was finished.

"Better?" Sephiroth asked amused.

"Much," she said with a smile.

"Good…"

"What's wrong?" she asked. He didn't answer.

_'My son…'_

_'Can't you get this through that thick mind of yours? I'm not helping you!' _Sephiroth thought angrily.

"Sephiroth?" Cassandra's voice broke through his thoughts and the voice of Jenova faded.

"What?" he asked a little startled.

"You are okay?" she asked looking a bit worried.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine. It was just a long trip here," he said.

"You don't look okay," she said.

"…I keep hearing a voice in my thoughts," he said.

"What does this voice say?" she asked.

"It tells me to set her free."

"Set who free?"

"My…mother."

"Your mother? But that doesn't make sense," she said.

"I know. I'm trying to ignore it but it doesn't seem to be getting the message," he said rubbing his forehead.

"Maybe you should get some sleep? You're going to have a long day tomorrow as it is," she said.

"Yeah…" he said standing up.

"Since this is rightfully your room I'll just sneak out and find some other place to stay," she said heading for the window. He grabbed her wrist before she reached it. She turned to face him.

"You were here first. Stay," he said.

"But…"

He shook his head. "No…stay with me." he said it before he realized it.

"Sephiroth…I…"

"Sh-h-h-h-h…" he pulled her back to the center of the room. He sat down on the foot of the bed and pulled her next to him. She shook her head and started to stand again. He acted before he thought he had.

Cassandra blinked at him when he pulled away from her. "You…you…" she couldn't think of what she wanted to say.

"Stay here," he said softly.

"…if that is what you want…" He kissed her again.

                                    ****


	17. chapter 17 WARNING! Not the real ending!

(Author's Note: WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is not, I repeat NOT the real ending to this story! Doing 2 endings was Rueh and my idea so here is the tragic ending…READ AT YOUR OWN WILL!!!!!!!)

Disclaimer: We've been through this before…don't own, don't sue! Cassandra is mine!

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**Chapter 17**

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Next morning…

Cassandra sat on the foot of the bed waiting for Sephiroth. It was only a few minutes before he came out of the bathroom.

"What's up?" she asked seeing the look on his face.

"…maybe you should stay here," he said with a frown.

"What do you mean? I can take care of myself," she said.

"I know that but…I just have a bad feeling about going into the mountains," he said.

She stood and walked over to him putting her arms around his waist. "Everything's going to be fine," she said.

"I wish it would be as you say," he said and put his hand on the side of her face.

For a moment her vision blurred. "No! Don't!" she managed to say.

"Sorry…but you should stay here…that way you won't get hurt if anything happens," he said and picked her up. She shook her head trying to throw off the sleep spell. He laid her down on the bed.

"Don't…" she whispered as her fight against the spell was lost.

"I'm sorry," he said softly and kissed her cheek. She was already asleep. He crossed the room to the door and picked up masamune.  He looked back at the sleeping form then quietly closed the door behind him. He walked down the stairs and outside of the inn. Zack and Cloud were waiting for him already.

"Mr. Sephiroth!" a man said running up to him.

"Yes?" Sephiroth asked.

"Please take care of my daughter," the man said as a young girl ran up to them.

"You're Tifa Lockheart?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yep! I'm supposed to be your guide through the mountains," Tifa said.

"Don't worry Mr. Lockheart. I will make sure your daughter is returned back here safely," Sephiroth said.

"Oh thank you!" the man said.

"Hey!" another man called.

"Yeah?" Zack asked.

"Can I get a picture of you before you leave?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes impatiently. "Make it fast," he snapped. Zack stood next to him. Tifa stood between both of them. Cloud didn't realize what was happening till the picture was over. "Now can we please get going?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yes sir! This way!" Tifa said and lead them to a trail. They followed the path for about an hour when they reached an old wooden bridge.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Zack asked.

"Oh yes! I've walked across it lots of times!" Tifa said and started across. Cloud was behind her followed by Zack then Sephiroth. They were halfway across when there was a cracking sound. They all froze.

-Spilt second later-

"I thought you said this thing was safe!" Zack snapped.

"It was but there must have been too much weight on it and that caused it to break!" Tifa said grabbing Cloud's hand to keep him from falling. Zack cursed and tightened his grip on the wood plank. Sephiroth tightened his grip and managed to brace his feet on another one.

"You're too heavy! You'll have to climb up!" Tifa said as she felt herself slip a little. The ropes that held the bridge were starting to snap as Cloud moved to try and grab a hold of something to pull himself up. He had just grabbed a plank when the ropes completely snapped…

                                    ****

Sephiroth pushed himself to his knees sometime later. He put a hand to his head hoping to soothe the headache he had. _'Glad I put her to sleep so she didn't get hurt,' _he thought as he remembered Cassandra who was still under the spell. There was a groan from nearby. It was Zack. Tifa and Cloud were a few feet from him.

"Is everyone all right?" Sephiroth asked as they started to stir.

"I think I'm in one piece," Zack said.

"I'm all right," Tifa said.

Cloud simply nodded.

"Is there another way to get to our destination?" Sephiroth asked looking up.

"Oh yeah! We'll have to go through some caves but I know how to get to the reactor either way!" Tifa said.

"Very well," he said and pushed himself to his feet. After a few minutes they were on their way again. They walked through a series of caves until they came to the path. They followed the path to the reactor. "Ms. Lockheart you will need to stay here," Sephiroth said as he climbed the stairs with Zack behind him.

"But I want to see what's in there!" Tifa said.

"No. SOLDIER keep her out here," Sephiroth said and entered the reactor.

"I'm going in," Tifa said. Cloud shook his head and blocked her path.

                                    ****

"Whoa…so this is what's like to be in one of these," Zack said turning in a full circle to see everything. Sephiroth didn't comment. "Hey…What's in these pods?" Zack asked trying to see into one. He yelled and jumped back when he finally saw. "What is that…that…THING!?" 

Sephiroth calmly walked to another one and looked inside. "Apparently they used to be human or something and have been exposed to too much mako," he said.

"Yuck," Zack said and shivered.

"Hmm…is this…how I was created?" Sephiroth mused.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Nevermind. Let's just fix this problem and get out of here," Sephiroth said looking around. He noticed a door at the top of the staircase. There was a label above it…Jenova.

_'My son…help me…'_

He shook his head and looked back at the creature in the pod.

_'They only want to enslave you and cause you even more pain and suffering…'_

_'Was I created the same way as these?'_

_'Help me and you may get your revenge…'_

_'Was I…the same way…' _Sephiroth suddenly spun around.__

"Hey! Where are you going?" Zack called after him. Sephiroth didn't answer as he ran from the reactor and back towards the town.

                                    ****

"I don't know what's gotten into him," Zack said as the 3 entered the town.

"Look! There's a light on inside the old mansion," Tifa said.

"Maybe you all should stay out here," Zack said and walked up to the door. He disappeared inside. He looked around the ground floor until he found a set of footprints in the dust on the floor. He followed them upstairs and into a room then to the wall where they disappeared. Zack pushed a barely concealed button. The wall lifted and revealed a staircase that spiraled down.

He followed it. He entered a basement.  He walked down the hall passing a door that was locked and then entering a lab like room. There was another hall leaving this room and light at the other end. He cautiously walked to the light. In this room he found Sephiroth pacing back and forth as he muttered to himself and read from a book.

"…Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth looked up at him and stopped his pacing. "Traitors…"

"What?" Zack asked taken aback.

"Traitors…all of you! You enslave me! A creta! And my mother!" Sephiroth said.

"I don't understand you," Zack said.

"Out of my way! I'm going to see my mother," Sephiroth said and breezed past Zack.

                                    ****

_'Why? Why did you put me to sleep?'_ Cassandra thought as the spell wore off. She sat up and looked around. The room had a red tint to it and outside she could hear people yelling and screaming. She jumped up and ran from the room to the outside. All around her houses were on fire and people were lying on the ground.

"Sephiroth!" she yelled and ran to him when she saw him. He didn't turn to face her. "What's going on?" she asked when she reached him.

"Traitors…I'll kill you all," he said.

"What? Look at me," she said putting her hand on his shoulder. She gasped and staggered back a step and looked up into his eyes to find a crazed look in them. "Why…what did I do wrong…? Is it something I did…?" she asked as she fell to her knees.

"Dirty traitor," was all he said. He jerked on his sword and freed it from where it was buried in her chest.

She shuddered and collapsed at his feet. "Did…I…do…something…wrong…?" She heard his insane laughter as he looked down at her. A few seconds later he walked away from her lifeless body still laughing…

                                    **** 


	18. chapter 18 Now to continue with the stor...

(Author's Note: Okay…this chapter will sound a bit like the last one but I've changed some of it…from this chapter I will go to a real ending…not like the chapter before this…so just wanted to tell you that this chapter will sound a bit like the last one but not end like it…I tried to make it as close to the game as I can remember though…)

Disclaimer: Don't own FF7 or Squaresoft. I own Cassandra.

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**Chapter 18**

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Next morning…

Cassandra sat on the foot of the bed waiting for Sephiroth. It was only a few minutes before he came out of the bathroom. "What's up?" she asked seeing the look on his face.

"…maybe you should stay here," he said with a frown.

"What do you mean? I can take care of myself," she said.

"I know that but…I just have a bad feeling about going into the mountains," he said.

She stood and walked over to him putting her arms around his waist. "Everything's going to be fine," she said.

"I wish it would be as you say. I just have this bad feeling," he said and put his hand on the side of her face.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine," she said.

"I guess you're right. I shouldn't worry," he said and kissed her cheek. He crossed the room to the door and picked up masamune.  She followed. They walked down the stairs and outside of the inn. Zack and Cloud were waiting for them already.

"Cassandra! I didn't know you were here," Zack said.

"Yep…though I hadn't thought that I would run into any of you," she said.

"Mr. Sephiroth!" a man said running up to him.

"Yes?" Sephiroth asked.

"Please take care of my daughter," the man said as a young girl ran up to them.

"You're Tifa Lockheart?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yep! I'm supposed to be your guide through the mountains," Tifa said.

"Don't worry Mr. Lockheart. I will make sure your daughter is returned back here safely," Sephiroth said.

"Oh thank you!" the man said.

"Hey!" another man called.

"Yeah?" Zack asked.

"Can I get a picture of you before you leave?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes impatiently. "Make it fast," he snapped. Zack stood next to him. Tifa stood between both of them. Cassandra hugged Sephiroth's arm and winked. Cloud didn't realize what was happening till the picture was over.

"Now can we please get going?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yes sir! This way!" Tifa said and lead them to a trail. They followed the path for about an hour when they reached an old wooden bridge.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Zack asked.

"Oh yes! I've walked across it lots of times!" Tifa said and started across. Cloud was behind her followed by Zack then Sephiroth then Cassandra. They were halfway across when there was a cracking sound. They all froze.

-Spilt second later-

"I thought you said this thing was safe!" Zack snapped.

"It was but there must have been too much weight on it and that caused it to break!" Tifa said grabbing Cloud's hand to keep him from falling. Zack cursed and tightened his grip on the wood plank. Sephiroth tightened his grip and managed to brace his feet on another one. Cassandra grabbed at a board but missed. Sephiroth grabbed her hand.

"Hold on!" he said.

"You're too heavy! You'll have to climb up!" Tifa said as she felt herself slip a little. The ropes that held the bridge were starting to snap as Cloud moved to try and grab a hold of something to pull himself up. He had just grabbed a plank when the ropes completely snapped…

                                    ****

Sephiroth pushed himself to his knees sometime later. He put a hand to his head hoping to soothe the headache he had. There was a groan from nearby. It was Zack. Tifa and Cloud were a few feet from him.

"Is everyone all right? Where's Cassandra?" Sephiroth asked as they started to stir.

"I think I'm in one piece," Zack said with a shrug.

"I'm all right," Tifa said.

Cloud simply nodded.

I'm right here," Cassandra said as she sat up.

"Is there another way to get to our destination?" Sephiroth asked looking relieved that she was all right.

"Oh yeah! We'll have to go through some caves but I know how to get to the reactor either way!" Tifa said.

"Very well," he said and pushed himself to his feet. He walked over to Cassandra and helped her up. After a few minutes they were on their way again. They walked through a series of caves until they came to the path. They followed the path to the reactor. "Ms. Lockheart you will need to stay here," Sephiroth said as he climbed the stairs with Zack and Cassandra behind him.

"But I want to see what's in there!" Tifa said.

"No. SOLDIER you stay out here with Cassandra and keep Ms. Lockheart out here," Sephiroth said and entered the reactor.

"Oh fine. Not fair that you get all the fun," Cassandra muttered as she went back down the stairs.

"I'm going in," Tifa said.

"Afraid not," Cassandra said sitting down on a step. Cloud shook his head and blocked Tifa's path.

                                    ****

"Whoa…so this is what's like to be in one of these," Zack said turning in a full circle to see everything. Sephiroth didn't comment. "Hey…What's in these pods?" Zack asked trying to see into one. He yelled and jumped back when he finally saw. "What is that…that…THING!?" 

Sephiroth calmly walked to another one and looked inside. "Apparently they used to be human or something and have been exposed to too much mako," he said.

"Yuck," Zack said and shivered.

"Hmm…is this…how I was created?" Sephiroth mused.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Nevermind. Let's just fix this problem and get out of here," Sephiroth said looking around.

He noticed a door at the top of the staircase. There was a label above it…Jenova.

_'My son…help__ me…' He shook his head and looked back at the creature in the pod.___

_'They only want to enslave you and cause you even more pain and suffering…'_

_'Was I created the same way as these?'_

_'Help me and you may get your revenge…'_

_'Was I…the same way…' _Sephiroth suddenly spun around.__

"Hey! Where are you going?" Zack called after him. Sephiroth didn't answer as he ran from the reactor. 

"Hey! Sephiroth wait!" Cassandra said as he ran past her back the way they had come.

"I don't know what's gotten into him," Zack said as he joined them.

"Let's just fix the reactor and go back. Maybe he'll be back at the inn and I can talk to him," Cassandra said and went inside the reactor with Zack. Cloud still wouldn't let Tifa get past him.

                                    ****

"Look! There's a light on inside the old mansion," Tifa said.

"Maybe you all should stay out here," Zack said and walked up to the door.

"I don't like this," Cassandra said as he disappeared inside. 

He looked around the ground floor until he found a set of footprints in the dust on the floor. He followed them upstairs and into a room then to the wall where they disappeared. Zack pushed a barely concealed button. The wall lifted and revealed a staircase that spiraled down. He followed it.

He entered a basement.  He walked down the hall passing a door that was locked and then entered a lab like room. There was another hall leaving this room and a light at the other end. He cautiously walked to the light. In this room he found Sephiroth pacing back and forth as he muttered to himself and read from a book.

"…Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth looked up at him and stopped his pacing. "Traitors…"

"What?" Zack asked taken aback.

"Traitors…all of you! You enslave me! A creta! And my mother!" Sephiroth said.

"I don't understand you," Zack said.

"Out of my way! I'm going to see my mother," Sephiroth said and breezed past Zack.

                                    ****

"Zack! Where's Sephiroth?" Cassandra asked when he came out of the mansion.

"He was inside but then he left. Didn't you see him?" he asked.

Cassandra shook her head. "I'm going to check the inn. Maybe he just got past us when we weren't looking and went there," she said and walked away.

"Let's go check the reactor again…" Tifa trailed off as a few houses burst into flames.

"Cassandra!" Zack yelled. They ran to where she was buried in a pile of rubble that was starting to catch fire. They began to move the rubble but stopped when evil laughter was heard over the sound of screams and flames. Sephiroth was the one laughing as he walked up the path that led to the reactor.

"There's too much rubble here! You 2 keep trying to free her! I'm gonna get Sephiroth and tell him to help us!" Zack said and ran after him. Cloud and Tifa returned their attention to Cassandra. "Sephiroth!" Zack yelled as he chased him to the reactor.

He found Sephiroth climbing the stairs that led to the door label Jenova. He ran up the stairs after him. Sephiroth spun and the next thing Zack knew was that he was flying through the air. He landed hard on his back on top of something metal. A numbing sensation spread through him and things started to spin.

Sephiroth turned back to the door. "Mother…I'm here…open this door," he said. The door opened.

                                    ****

"She'll be all right. She was just knocked out," Tifa said looking up at Cloud from where she knelt next to the unconscious Cassandra. Cloud didn't seem to hear her. "Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shook his head slowly then ran to where his house was burning. Tifa gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Movement caught her eye. Turning to see it she saw her dad running up the mountain path. Making sure Cassandra was a good distance from the fires she then followed him.

                                    ****

Cassandra slowly came to. She sat up and looked around. Buildings everywhere were on fire and collapsing.

She got to her feet.   She barely saw movement on the mountain path. And like the others she followed it.

                                    ****

"Give it back! You took my mother! My hometown away from me! Give it back!" Cloud yelled as he grabbed the blade of Sephiroth's sword.

Sephiroth just laughed softly…menacingly…

Cloud dug in and with a mighty push forced Sephiroth to back up and lifted him off his feet by his sword. Sephiroth looked at him in a surprised way.

                                    *****

Cassandra burst through the door way of the reactor. "NO!" she yelled…but it was too late. She ran to the railing as Cloud collapsed and could only watch as Sephiroth fell to the mako below. She sank to her knees breathing ragged. She reached over and felt for Cloud's pulse. Nothing. Slightly shaking and in a dazed state she stood and went further into the reactor.

                                    ****

By the time Shinra troops and Hojo arrived at the scene Cassandra had found Tifa's wounded and unconscious form and gotten out of the town.

                                    ****


	19. chapter 19

(Author's Note: Hello! Okay…this chapter…well…if I gave it a title it could probably be called Hojo's bad day…or something like that…Anyway… here's chapter 19 and I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this story thus far! THANK YOU!!!! ^_~)

Disclaimer: Don't own so don't sue me for using the FF7 cast! It belongs to Squaresoft.

But now any knew characters are mine…sort of…Rueh belongs to Rueh…(you'll understand when you read this chapter…)

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**Chapter 19**

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5 years later…

A young girl skipped down the dirty street on her way to the Seventh Heaven after school. She was halfway there when the most dangerous gang of the neighborhood came into view. She slowed her pace and watched them warily. She was almost passed them when one of them noticed her.

"Well…looky here guys," he said.

She quickened her pace. She hadn't gotten too far when the gang surrounded her.

"Where you going little girl?" another asked.

She shook her head and tried to walk forward but was pushed back. She sat up her eyes wide with fear.

"We don't like people who look at us like that," the leader of the gang said.

The others around him smirked in agreement.

"Please…let me pass," she said finding her voice at last.

All the gang members shook their heads.

"Nope. Afraid not," the leader said.

She whimpered as he stepped forward.

"It's not nice to pick on those who can't fight back. Especially little kids," a voice said from the dark shadows.

"And who says?" the leader asked.

A man stepped out of the shadows. "I do," he said confidently.

"Like you could stop us," the leader said looking him over trying to size him up.

"Try me," he said in a bored tone. The entire gang charged him.  The little girl covered her eyes as they fought. After a few minutes silence descended around her. A hand came to rest on her shoulder. "You're not hurt are you?" the man asked looking down at her.

"I-I'm fine. Who…who are you?" the girl asked.

"Heh…doesn't matter. Now let's get you to where ever you're going," the man said.

He walked with the girl to the bar. "A little young aren't you?" he asked.

"I help Tifa run the place," the girl said with a shrug as they entered.

"Tifa?"

The woman behind the bar looked up. Her hair was long and dark brown. Her eyes were a brown mixed with red. "Cloud? Is that you?" she asked walking around to stand in front of the bar.

"Yeah…how have you been?" Cloud asked a little uneasy.

"I'm fine but…Marlene are you okay?" Tifa asked the little girl.

"Yep! He saved me from the gang!" Marlene said as she put her school bag under the countertop of the bar.

"Barret and the others should be here soon," Tifa said. As if on cue a big man entered the bar with a few others behind him. They looked pleased with themselves. "How was it?" Tifa asked.

"Everything went as we had planned," the big man said.

"Good. Oh! Cloud this is Barret. He's a good friend of mine and you've met his daughter Marlene. Barret this is Cloud Strife. He helped Marlene get away from the gang," Tifa said.

"You helped Marlene?" Barret asked.

"Yeah…what do you mean things went as planned?" Cloud asked.

"Oh…we're known as Avalanche," Barret said looking at the people behind him.

"Really?" Cloud asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well what's it matter to you anyway?" Barret asked.

"I'm a mercenary," Cloud said.

"Maybe you could help us. I'm Jessi," the woman behind Barret said.

"I'm Biggs," a man said.

"And I'm Wedge," the other man said.

"Well…will you help us bring down Shinra?" Barret asked.

"How much do you pay?" Cloud asked with a slight smile.

                                    **** 

(Okay…I know I'm skipping some things but I'm kinda just bored at the moment…so…times past and Aeris is caught…now to continue…)

                                    ****

"Okay…so tell me again why we're sneaking in Hojo's lab except to find Aeris?" Cloud said.

"To try and find plans to the mako reactors too," Barret said.

"R-r-right…" Cloud said as he walked past a cell that had glass for a front wall. Something hit the glass hard. Cloud jumped and spun to look at it. He yelled and scrambled backwards eyes wide and with a frightened look.

"What is it?" Tifa asked looking at him with concern.

"What is THAT?" Cloud asked pointing at the…'thing' that was plastered against the glass.

"…I think that 'it' is a little kid," Barret said.

Sure enough upon closer inspection Cloud did see that it was a little girl. She had waist length whitish colored hair with black tips. Her eyes were messed up at the moment but were aquamarine in color.

"You'll have to excuse her behavior. We're not used to seeing anyone but those who work in this nasty place," another young girl was sitting in a corner of the same cell.

She had waist length light golden brown hair and pale eyes the same color as the other girls.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked.

"I'm Dete…she's Rueh," the girl said nodding to the one who was pulling away from the glass wall shaking her head to clear it.

"What are you doing in there?" Tifa asked walking closer to the glass.

Dark looks appeared on both girls faces.

"Hojo," Rueh said. She spun fast and punched the wall.

"You don't like him?" Cloud asked.

"Who does?" Rueh asked giving him a dull look.

"That's true," Tifa said looking at Cloud.

"Oh no…we came here to find reactor plans and to help Aeris get away from Hojo," Cloud said shaking his head.

"But Hojo's experimenting on 6 year olds too!" she said.

"It'll make Hojo mad if we get them out of here," Barret said.

"Oh fine," Cloud grumbled and opened the cell door.

The 2 six year old girls walked out. "Thank you," Dete said.

"You'll have to stick close to us until we get out of here," Cloud said.

Rueh and Dete nodded as they looked around the lab. Dete suddenly turned on Rueh. "NO! You can't…don't even think…"she said.

"…too late…" Rueh said as an insane grin slowly spread across her face. Dete shook her head and turned to Barret, Tifa, and Cloud. "You might want to take cover," she said dully.

"What do you…?" Cloud started but never finished. Rueh laughed wickedly and began to run in circles around the lab. As she passed things fell off of whatever they were sitting on.

-5 minutes later-

"There…*pant*…all…*pant pant*…done…" Rueh said with a triumphant grin and looking around the now completely ruined lab.

"Very good. Now we can go," Dete said nodding her head. They left the lab and found another area of the lab where Hojo was and Aeris and another creature. Cloud sighed.

"Why not? I mean we've already helped 2 six year olds get away where's the harm in helping one more?" he said looking at the red creature in the same cell as Aeris.

"How did you 2 little brats get out?" Hojo demanded.

"They let us out," Dete said calmly. Rueh's breathing began to get faster. Dete put her hand on Rueh's shoulder.

"Oh please oh please oh please?" Rueh begged.

"Steady not yet," Dete said. Rueh began to hop from one foot to the other.

Hojo paled and took a step back. "You wouldn't…no…" he said.

Dete looked thoughtful. "No…that'd be too harsh…but what the hey…GET HIM RUEH!" Rueh gave her insane laugh again and charged for Hojo. He yelled and ran away from her.

"Why…?" Tifa asked with a confused look.

"Don't even try to understand her…you'll fail," Dete said.

"But…" Barret said.

"Look Hojo's busy at the moment…isn't there something you came here to do?" Dete asked.

"Oh yeah! Let's hurry!" Cloud said. They freed Aeris and the red creature and were reading to go.

"Come on Rueh!" Dete called. Rueh didn't hear her and kept reaching for Hojo who hit her hand away with a paper that was rolled up. "I've got chocolate…"

Rueh spun and ran for Dete. Dete ran after the group ahead of her followed closely by Rueh.

Hojo sniffed. "…safe…the demons gone…both of them…safe…"

                                    ****

(Author's Note: See? Rueh belongs to Rueh…the author Rueh that is…they are one in the same…Dete does belong to me and I kinda hope that with the way I make Rueh and Dete act I will be reflecting off of our personalities…yes in this story I have added myself…As DETE! Thank you! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! Juzu ^_~)


	20. chapter 20

(Author's Note: Okay…things won't go the same way they did in the game…they're probably mixed up a bit but oh well…nothings perfect…*shrug*…anyway on to the next chapter! ^_~ )

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Dete is mine and Rueh belongs to Rueh. Any others are mine too…

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**Chapter 20**

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"Thank you for saving me!" Aeris said happily as she hugged Cloud's arm tight.

"Ahh…you're welcome…" Cloud said seeing Tifa giving Aeris a dirty look.

"And what about you? What's your name?" Barret asked.

"I'm called Nanaki…but please call me Red," the red creature said with a bow of his head.

"Okay…so what are we going to do now?" Tifa asked once Aeris had let go of Cloud's arm.

"Find a place for these two to go," he said nodding towards Rueh and Dete who were sitting at a table and drinking a soda.

"But we wanna stay here," Rueh said.

"Please?" Dete asked.

"No. It's too…" Barret started.

"Don't you even go and say it's too dangerous. If it is why do you let Marlene stay here all alone?" Dete said.

"…they can stay here and help Marlene with the bar while we're gone…can't they?" Tifa asked.

"I suppose so," Barret said in defeat.

"Yeah! And we want to help you ruin Shinra too!" Rueh said.

Tifa, Barret, Cloud, Aeris, and Red shook their heads. The 2 girls began to pout. Rueh sniffed and her lower lip trembled.

"Oh no…fine fine. You can help us!" Cloud said not wanting her to start crying.

"I knew you'd accept our help," Rueh said the pouting look on her face gone.

"Yeah whatever…" Cloud grumbled as he turned away from the 2 six year olds. They both smiled in triumph.

"Well…let's get started planning our next move," Barret said. Cloud was still grumbling something about little kids as they descended into the basement.

                                    ****

3 days later…

"They're what?!" Cloud said. Tifa, Red, Marlene, Aeris, Rueh, and Dete looked over at him. He held the phone closer to his ear.

"You heard me right! They're going to drop the plate over sector 7! We've got to stop them," Barret said on the other end.

"All right we'll meet you there!" Cloud said and hung up.

"What's going on?" Aeris asked.

"Get out of sector 7! They're going to drop the plate. You take Marlene, Rueh and Dete with you. Red too. Tifa you can come with me. We're going to meet Barret and the others," Cloud said. Tifa nodded and ran after him out the door.

"Come on!" Aeris said. She took Marlene's hand and followed by Rueh and Dete they headed for the sector's exit. They got there without any problems. They were almost to Aeris' house when 3 Turks stepped in front of them.

"You're to come with us Aeris," Tseng said. She shook her head and stepped back. He took a step forward. Rueh and Dete stepped in front of her. Red growled deep in his throat.

"Oh cute…out of the way little kids," he said.

Rueh and Dete looked at each other with a sideways glance and wicked smiles on their faces. "Make us move," Rueh said in a deadly tone.

Tseng looked over his shoulder at Rude and Elena. They nodded. "Fine. We'll get you out of our way then get back to business," he said turning back to Rueh and Dete…but they were gone. He gasped in pain and shock as 2 feet slammed into his stomach. Rueh and Dete jumped back as Rude and Elena ran at them. Then they met the charge. Elena flew backwards from the spell Dete cast and landed in a heap then didn't move after that. Rueh jumped over Rude and landed behind him. She spun on her heel and landed her foot in the middle of his back. He went to his knees. Rueh hit the back of his head hard.  He fell forward. She nodded in satisfaction.

"We can go now," she said to Aeris.

"O-okay…" Aeris said in a state of shock that 2 six year olds had just taken out 3 full grown Turks.

                                    ****

"Come ON!" Barret snapped and picked Tifa up. Cloud followed right behind.

"I can run just fine!" Tifa said.

"Not fast enough! We have to get out of here!" Barret said running as fast as he could.

"But…!"

"Cloud! Get moving!" Barret said over his shoulder at the blonde haired man who was trying to keep up.

"It's hard to run when the ground underneath you is moving!" Cloud snapped back. After what seemed to be forever they made it to sector 5…just as the plate collapsed.

"All…all those people who weren't able…" Tifa said as she looked back at the wreckage.

"Sh-h-h-h Tifa…we'll get Shinra back for this," Cloud said hugging her.

"Of course we will. I'll get them back for the death of my friends," Barret said. They walked to Aeris' house.

"Is everyone all right?" Cloud asked.

"Oh yes we're fine…thanks to Rueh and Dete. They beat up the Turks," Aeris said as Marlene was hugged by Barret.

"Good…guess what else we heard from Reno as he escaped?" Tifa said.

"What?" Rueh asked.

"The president is dead. Some how someone using a long sword got in the Shinra building undetected and kill him," Barret said.

"Rufus is going to blame it on us…all of this," Tifa said.

"Reno also said something about…Sephiroth being sighted in the building," Cloud said softly. Rueh and Dete looked at each other.

"Well in any case we can't stay here…let's go to Kalm," Red said.

                                    ****

(Author's Note: The next chapter will have the entire group together…just to let you know that time is passing…)


	21. chapter 21

(Author's Note: Hey everyone! Here is chapter 21! I know I'm probably not going in order of how things happened in the game but who cares…right? Anyway…here ya go!)

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Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Dete and the new character are…Rueh belongs to Rueh…

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****

**Chapter 21**

****

"Tell me again…just why did they have to come with us?" Cloud asked with a hand hiding half of his face and a dull look. Aeris and Tifa sat on either side of him laughing silently. Dete stood between Vincent and Red with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. Cid was yelling at Rueh. She was laughing hysterically as he chased her. Yes he was in a bad mood.

"I told her not to touch the button but no…she wouldn't listen to me," Yuffie said. Cait Sith was laughing and cheering Rueh on. Dete took a deep breath…

"RUEH!"

Rueh stopped so fast that Cid tripped over her. "Yes Dete?" she asked innocently.

"Did you by chance touch a button?"

Rueh shook her head still looking innocent.

"You did didn't you?"

"No!"

"Yes you did," Dete sighed.

"No I didn't," Rueh grumbled.

"Chocolate?"

"YES!"

"Did you push that button?"

"…oh fine I did! Happy now?"

"Much…here's your chocolate!"

"MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that Rueh ran from the bridge to find someplace to hide and eat her chocolate so no one could take it. Dete had already warned them that that was a bad idea.

"We'll be at Costa Del Sol in a few minutes," Cid said turning back to his controls.

"You mean no one was watching the controls while you were chasing Rueh?" Cloud asked.

"Yep…"

Yuffie made a face and wrapped an arm around her stomach. "I'll…be back…"

                                     ****

"Oh that's just disgusting!" Tifa mumbled.

"What is?" Cloud asked.

"Hojo on the beach," she said. Everybody shuddered and made faces like they were being sick.

"We need to talk to him…but first let's get our rooms at the inn…no wait…I want it!" Cloud said and ran towards a person standing outside a villa that was for sale.

-10 minutes later-

"Happy now?" Tifa grumbled.

Cloud nodded. "I got a villa! I got a villa!" he said happily. Aeris and Tifa rolled their eyes.

"Well. Some of us should talk to Hojo…" Red started.

"Rueh and myself will be exploring," Dete said as they walked off.

"Don't get lost!" Aeris called after them. They simply waved back without stopping.

"Well…let's get this over with," Cloud sighed.

                                    ****

She leaned back and looked up at the clear blue sky. The sun was shining down upon her face. She sighed and looked down at the water below her feet from where she sat on the dock. She gazed at her reflection then pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. There were 2 little girls nearby who were watching the water too but then they looked at her. They walked over to her.

"Why are you wearing a cloak? Isn't it too hot for that?" one asked.

"Not at all. I'm used to it," she said.

"Well I'm Rueh and this is Dete," the girl who had spoken said.

"Who are you?" Dete asked.

"I'm…Ezra," she said.

"Hmm…Ezra…that's not your name but if you don't want to tell us that's okay," Rueh said.

_'How could they possibly…?' she shrugged and turned back to gazing at the water. Rueh and Dete sat down next to her._

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Do you mind if we join you? We don't want to talk to Hojo like a few of our friends are," Dete said.

"Who _would want to talk to him?" Ezra asked._

"Our point exactly," Rueh said.

"We were tortured enough by him. We don't want to go through any more," Dete said quietly.

"He does cause a lot of suffering doesn't he?" Ezra asked softly. Rueh and Dete nodded. "So who are your friends?" Ezra asked after a minute of silence.

"Cloud Strife and his group," Dete said.

"The group out to stop Sephiroth?"

"Yep!" Rueh said.

"Do you…do you think that I could join the fight on your side?" Ezra asked.

"We'll have to talk to Cloud but I say sure!" Dete said.

"Me too! The more the merrier!" Rueh said.

"We can talk to him later. After he's done with Hojo," Dete said.

"Thank you," Ezra said. They barely saw her smile from under the hood of her cloak.

                                     ****

"…*grumble*…stupid Hojo…*more grumbling*…" Cloud sat down with an annoyed look on his face.

"Hhheeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Cloud!"

"…yes Rueh?" Cloud said through gritted teeth.

"Aaaa…yeah…anyway we were wondering if…well this is Ezra! She asked us if she could join us. Can she?" Rueh asked.

Cloud slowly looked up and moved his hands away from his forehead. "Ezra?" he asked looking closely at the cloaked person who was standing between Rueh and Dete silently.

"I am Ezra," she said.

"Hey guys! Come in here!" Cloud called to the others. After a few minutes everyone was sitting around the room watching Rueh, Dete, and Ezra. "Ezra here wants to join up with us," Cloud said.

"Why?" Vincent asked.

Ezra shrugged. "To help save the planet…do I have to have a reason besides that?"

"No…the planet says we can trust her…I'm willing to let her come with us," Aeris said looking around at the others.

"If the planet says we can trust you I don't think we can disagree. Still I would like to see if you can fight," Cloud said. The others gave their consent.

"Very well. Who will I fight?" Ezra asked.

"Me," Cloud said.

"Where?"

"Outside."

"When?"

"Now," Cloud said standing up. Ezra nodded and followed him outside with the others behind them. Cloud stopped on the beach and drew his sword. Ezra drew out a small dagger. One in each hand.

"Begin!" Cid said.

Cloud moved first. He charged Ezra head on. She stood still till the last second. She jumped and twisted as she flipped over him. Her cloak fanned out around her but didn't reveal her. She landed silently in a kneeled position and launched herself at him while his back was still turned. He turned just in time. One of her daggers went past only inches from his face. He froze. Her second dagger pressed against his throat.

"Have I earned my right yet?" Ezra asked calmly.

"Yes you have. Welcome to Avalanche," Cloud said sheathing his sword.

                                    ****


	22. chapter 22

(Author's Note: Yeah…this chapter is not good if you are an Aeris fan…trust me…anyone else can get the idea of what happens in this story by this note…oh well…here is chapter 22!)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Rueh belongs to Rueh. Dete and Ezra are mine.

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**Chapter 22**

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_'Don't you worry…let me take care of Sephiroth…' _Her words echoed through his head as he watched the ground below them as the Highwind sped onward.__

_'Why Aeris? Why did you not wait for us?'_ Cloud shook his head to clear it.

Nearby Ezra was sitting against the wall. She never took off her cloak so no one knew what she looked like. She hardly ever said anything unless her opinion was asked. She was as puzzling to him as Vincent was. But…he laughed to himself at this…Rueh and Dete seemed to understand their silence perfectly.

_'Strange how 2 six year olds can understand the feelings of adults that I can't,' _he thought with a smirk.

"Bone Village in 5 minutes," Cid said breaking Cloud out of his thoughts.

Tifa walked over to stand next to him. "She'll be fine," she said.

"I hope so Tifa," Cloud said. She hugged him briefly then walked over to wake Rueh up. 

-5 minutes later-

"We need to go into the Sleeping Forest," Cloud said.

"How do we do that?" Yuffie asked.

"There is a harp called the lunar harp…it will wake the forest when played," Red said.

"Where is this harp?" Dete asked.

"You'll have to dig for it," a man said as he walked up to the group.

"You're kidding…right?" Rueh said.

"Nope. We don't know where it is," he said.

"Oh well…let's start digging!" Rueh said. She ran off followed closely by Dete to start digging.

"Let's get to work," Barret said.

                                    ****

"I FOUND IT!!!" 

"Hey…I think Rueh found it you guys," Cid said.

"Really? I couldn't tell," Cait Sith said dully.

They walked over to where Rueh was sitting beside a big pile of dirt. "Here ya go," she said handing it to Cloud.

"Good job. Now let's go after Aeris," he said turning to face the forest entrance.

                                    ****

_'…oh planet…it is time now…' _Slowly she opened her dark green eyes and met the glowing blue eyes in front of her.She smiled at him and looked past him.The others were gathered around the bottom of the staircase that led them to this crystal place.She looked back at Cloud feeling the dark shadow above her.It suddenly moved.She looked deep into Cloud's eyes…__

His eyes widened and he stared at the 2 on the alter. Slowly very slowly glowing bright green eyes in a face framed by long silver hair met Cloud's eyes. A wicked grin slowly spread across his face.

"No more interference," he said in a soft deadly tone.

"No!" Cloud ran forward and caught Aeris as she slumped forward. Her eyes were already closed but the soft gentle smile was still on her face. Cloud looked up and glared at Sephiroth. "I'll kill you…I'll kill you…I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled.

Sephiroth merely smirked and disappeared. Almost unnoticed a white/green orb fell into the lake below the alter. Cloud slowly stood with Aeris in his arms and turned to the others who were just staring at what had happened. Slowly they began the climb back up the stairs. Ezra stood still until they were almost at the top. 

She walked to the edge of the lake and looked into the water. She looked back at the top of the stairs. Rueh and Dete looked back at her. She turned her back on them and dove into the water…after the materia. Rueh and Dete looked at each other and nodded.

                                    ****

The group sat silently on the deck of the Highwind. No one felt like talking. Tifa was hugging Cloud. Cait Sith was patting Yuffie's shoulder. Vincent sat beside Rueh and Dete. Red was next to the cloaked Ezra. Cid and Barret were standing with their heads bowed.

"Why?" Yuffie finally broke the thick silence with one word.

"I don't know…was it because she was an ancient?" Cid said looking up.

"That could be but what was she doing on the alter?" Tifa asked.

"She was praying," Red said.

"What?" Barret asked looking up.

"She was praying to Holy. Perhaps her pray can stop meteor," Red said looking up at the object in the sky.

"I don't really care what she was doing…Sephiroth killed her!" Cloud said.

"Yes Cloud he did…but…" Vincent started quietly.

"He had no right to do this!"

"No he didn't…but he's not in his right mind," Ezra spoke up for the first time that day.

"What?" Cloud asked narrowing his eyes at her.

"The thoughts in his head…they are not his own. He is being used like a puppet just like his has used you," she said quietly.

"You don't know what you're talking about…or are you siding with him?"

"I'm not siding with him…I'm just saying…"

"Your opinion was not asked for."

She sat up straighter. "Ver…very well," she said.

"Cid. Let's go," Cloud said.

"Where too?" Cid asked.

"…the Northern Crater."

                                    **** 


	23. chapter 23

(Author's Note: Hello! Here is chapter 23! From the way it looks now I might be able to get one or more chapters up then…the end will be here…unless I get a few reviews that want me to continue with this story to go past the end of the game…I'll leave it up to you guys! Oh and sorry that this chapter is so short!)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Rueh is Rueh's. Dete and Ezra are mine. Oh yeah! The stuff in italics…it's a song called One More…and that belongs to Journey!

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**Chapter 23**

_'Wicked prophets kill... speaking his name   
            In the glory of an innocent age   
            A king is born to a house filled with rage   
            One man's fear is another man's truth, one fear _

_            The blind suffer at the hands of sin   
            Lines are drawn where the boundaries begin   
            Ten thousand broken, by the madness within   
            Broken…'_

"What…is going on? Where am I? Why does my head hurt so? Wait…where? Where's Ca…"

"Don't worry about that one. She means nothing. You need only worry for me…my son."

"Who…are you? Why do I have thoughts of…mother?"

"Because I am your mother…Jenova."

"No…you can't be…my sight tells me you're a monster…"

"Your sight is blinded…trust me…I am who I say I am."

_            'One more, cry in the night... one more   
            One more, war left to fight ...one more   
            One life, cut down by fire   
            Once child's, angry desire... one more _

_            Hearts of stone, pride without shame   
            Wicked prophets, kill while speaking his name   
            As the heavens, fall from the sky   
            Fallin''_

With determined resolve they walked down the many different paths. This is the path that they chose for many different reasons but for the same cause. They march on towards the battle ground. Someone would not live to see the next day…that they all knew.

_            'Brother to brother, blood on their hands   
            Desolation in the kingdom of man   
            Holy vengeance is the justice of hell   
            Mercy, mercy… _

_            One more, cry in the night... one more   
            One more, war left to fight ...one more   
            One life, cut down by fire   
            Once child's, angry desire... one more'_

"Why…why do I want to fight these people that come? These thoughts in my head are not my own…why?"

"Because it is what I want. Who are you to refuse your mother?"

"How are you my mother? You're just a sick monster…USING ME AS A PUPPET!"

"Don't you use that tone with me!"

"You will not control me any more! You are not my mother!"

"You will do as you are told!"

"No! I will never…NEVER…be used by a monster like you again!"

"You're acting like a little child. Come my son…they come to kill me…"

"Good! I hope they do!"

"…if they kill me then I'll make sure they kill you!"

_            'Wings of fire... drums of thunder   
            No more, no more   
            One more, cry in the night... one more   
            One more was, was left to fight... one more _

_            One life, cut down by fire   
            One child's angry desire... one more   
            One more, one.'_

It took some time but they made it to the place the creature called Jenova was. The battle raged. But…in the end…Jenova was defeated. Before he could stop himself the change had already begun. They battled his first transformation and won.

"Yes…now I can be free…" but then the change began again.

This angelic form they battled yet still they won. The meteor that hung in the sky was lower. Ever so closer to the planet it came. The prayer of the ancient was heard and Holy was released to battle the threat from the sky above. But alone it could not win. It called upon the planet's life blood…the life stream.

"Why won't this end? I don't want to go on!" Sephiroth looked up and locked eyes with Cloud.

_'Come and get me,' _the thought ran through Cloud's mind. He narrowed his eyes…and fell down to where the last stand would be made.

                                    ****


	24. chapter 24

(Author's Note: Well now…I'll leave it to you…the readers…to decide if I should do a sequel or anything…I think I can get another chapter or 2 but I'll just have to wait and see…enjoy! Please r&r this chapter!)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Dete and Cassandra are mine. Rueh belongs to Rueh…and the stuff in italics is the song called My Last Breath by Evanescence so that's not mine either.

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**Chapter 24**

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"We have to get out of here!" Red said.

"But Cloud…" Tifa said as they all watched him descend to where they could see Sephiroth standing with his sword in hand.

"We have just enough time to watch them…if they make it quick," Vincent said softly.

Rueh and Dete gazed silently at the 2 below.

They bowed their heads and closed their eyes as Ezra moved away from where she had stood behind them.

She moved silently to get a better view…closer to the edge of the rock cliff that they were standing on.

Sephiroth and Cloud raised their swords into position.

_'Hold on to me love_

_You know I can't stay long_

_All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid_

_Can you hear me?_

_Can you feel me in your arms?_

_Holding my last breath_

_Safe inside myself_

_Are all my thoughts of you_

_Sweet raptured light_

_It ends here tonight…'_

"I'll get my revenge for what you've done to hurt me and those I know," Cloud hissed.

Sephiroth merely smirked and cocked his head slightly to the side.

"Then come and get me."

Cloud snarled and stepped forward.

"Omnislash!"

Sephiroth stepped back as his blade fell to the ground.

_'I'll miss the winter_

_A world of fragile things_

_Look for me in the white forest_

_Hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)_

_I know you hear me_

_I can taste it in your tears_

_Holding my last breath_

_Safe inside myself_

_Are all my thoughts of you_

_Sweet raptured light_

_It ends here tonight…'_

"Ezra stop!" Barret said.

His voice went unheard as she dove over the edge of the cliff as if diving into water.

'I won't let this happen!' the thought raced through her head as she fell towards the 2 fighters.

White light gathered around her underneath her cloak.

The others could see the light as she dropped.

She landed silently between the 2 fighters with her back to Cloud facing Sephiroth.

She bit her tongue as the attack called Omnislash slammed into her.

Too late Cloud realized it wasn't Sephiroth who was being hurt.

As the last blow ended Ezra collapsed into Sephiroth.

Sephiroth looked at Cloud with a glare like it was his fault that someone had interfered.

Something fell out from under the cloak as Cloud stepped back.

It floated to the ground and landed at his feet.

He bent down and picked it up.

It was a single soft pure white feather.

Sephiroth looked down at Ezra.

"Sephiroth…" her voice…

His breath caught.

"…Cassandra?" he asked.

She looked up at him as the cloak fell away.

Two white feather wings had grown from her back.

They were torn and the feathers were bent or broken.

Some were missing completely.

He caught her right hand as she raised it to touch his face.

He looked at the back of it to find the white marking…a snowflake marking.

He looked back at her only to see her eyes beginning to close.

"Hold on Cassandra," he said softly.

A strange feeling passed through his right shoulder blade.

A glance behind him revealed a single black wing in the same condition as hers.

"…Sephiroth…"

"You'll be all right," he said turning back to her.

"…tired…"

"Sh-h-h-h-h…its okay," he said.

A sudden pain lanced through his head as a small tendril of life stream came up through the ground at their feet.

He staggered.

Her wings wrapped around him protectively.

"Hush…" she whispered to him.

The life stream tendril grew bigger and a pool of the liquid began to form at their feet.

Cassandra looked up and saw Aeris.

"You did it," Aeris said with a smile.

Cassandra returned the smile and looked at Sephiroth.

"Yes…I did…I've saved an angel…and so have you…"

"Cloud let's go!" Tifa yelled to him.

"Hey you two! Hurry up!" he said spinning around and headed towards the others.

_'Closing your eyes to disappear_

_You pray your dreams will leave you here_

_But still you wake and know the truth_

_No one's there_

_Say goodnight_

_Don't be afraid_

_Calling me calling me as you fade to black…'_

Sephiroth and Cassandra buried their faces against each other as they collapsed into the pool of life stream at their feet.

                                    ****

Tifa helped Cloud up the last few feet.

"Let's get out of here!" she said.

"Right!" he said.

They all ran for the Highwind.

They launched in time for the life stream to erupt.

They watched Holy and the life stream push meteor back.

They watched it be destroyed.

Midgar also was destroyed as they watched.

"It's over. We're safe now," Red said.

Vincent nodded and looked at Rueh and Dete.

Red followed his gaze.

Rueh and Dete were watching the crater while standing silently beside the railing of the airship.

Vincent and Red looked at each other then turned away.

"Wait…Sephiroth and Cassandra…they didn't get out," Tifa said.

"Ezra really was Cassandra…but there's nothing we can do…" Cloud said hugging her.

The others remained quiet.

                                    ****


	25. chapter 25

(Author's Note: Hello! Now let's see here…I think maybe one more chapter after this one and it'll be the end…BUT…there is one thing that I never took care of in this story…if you can figure it out and want me to…I might just write a sequel or continue with more chapters! How does that sound? Please let me know! Thanks! ^_~)

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Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Dete and Cassandra are. Rueh belongs to Rueh.

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**Chapter 25**

He awoke…but his eyes would barely open.

He was barely aware of her in his arms and her arms around him.

He heard voices coming closer.

He felt the ebb and swell of the glowing substance in which they lay halfway in and halfway on solid ground. 

His consciousness faded again as he felt the people begin to lift him from the ground.

                                    ****

"Has anyone seen Rueh or Dete at all?" Yuffie asked.

"Now that you mention it…no. I haven't seen them at all this past week," Tifa said looking around to see if they could be seen somewhere in Cosmo Canyon.

"Hmm…maybe they got lost in the Gi cave?" Cait Sith said.

"No. Vincent and I just came out of there. We found a new tunnel but we didn't see them," Red said walking up to the fire and sitting down.

"Maybe in the observatory?" Cloud asked.

"They're not up there. I just was," Cid said.

"They seemed to understand Cassandra before we knew it was her…do you think that they went looking for her and Sephiroth?" Barret asked.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as they sat around the fire.

"I think they did," Cloud finally said.

"But they have no clue as to what might have happened to those 2 and they're just 6 years old!" Tifa said.

"Don't underestimate Rueh and Dete. They're stronger than they seem. I also have a feeling that Hojo had something to do with them if you found them in his lab," Vincent said.

"…but they're nothing alike!" Cid said.

"Knowing what Hojo was like…that wouldn't matter. He could have altered them in anyway," Cloud said quietly.

"That's true…so in some way…they must be related to either Sephiroth or Cassandra," Tifa said.

"If not both," Cait Sith said.

Silence followed his words.

                                    ****

"You 2 don't need my help so why are you here?"

Rueh and Dete looked up from where they sat on the alter.

A vision of Aeris hovered in the same place she had knelt in prayer.

"This place is the quietest on the planet," Rueh said.

"To find out where they are we need to be here. We can sense their presence but ever since they were engulfed by the life stream we haven't be able to follow their movements," Dete said.

"So that's why you're here. To find them. All I can tell you is that they have left the life stream," Aeris said.

"That helps us a bit. But can you tell us where?" Rueh asked.

"I'm afraid not," Aeris said with a sad look.

"That's okay. If they wake up we'll be able to feel it. Then we'll know where they are," Dete said.

Aeris smiled.     

                                    ****

He groaned softly and opened his eyes.

He was looking up at a ceiling.

It was white.

After a minute he tried to sit up but found his efforts to be useless.

He fell back down onto the bed he was on.

Everything was spinning and blurring.

He felt like getting sick.

After sometime had passed…he didn't keep track of it…he tried to get up again.

This time he was successful.

He looked around.

He was the only one in the room.

Glancing out the window revealed a pond of the glowing green substance and a town that was a mess.

Houses and shops were broken and pieces of them were everywhere.

For a moment he wondered what had happened then a thought struck his mind.

He got to his feet and staggered to the door to the room.

He opened it while trying to clear his head of the swirling darkness.

"Cassandra?" he asked taking a step into the room.

He eyes scanned it then stopped on the bed in this room. 

She was laying on it with the white blankets pulled up to her shoulders.

He made his way over to her and knelt next to the bed.

"Cassandra?" he asked softly putting his hand on the side of her face.

It was a minute before she stirred and opened her eyes to see him.

"Sephiroth," she said a smile forming on her face.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Sore and tired…what about you?" she asked.

"The same as you," he said.

She had a pained expression as she moved over so he could sit on the edge of the bed instead of the floor.

He did and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Try not to move. You…you were hit by his attack," Sephiroth said a slightly confused expression on his face.

"We'll have to get your thoughts straight before we leave this place," she said.

"Will you help me with that?"

"Of course. And there are 2 others that we need to find as well," she said.

"Who?" he asked tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Their names are Rueh and Dete. After I left Shinra Hojo…well…they're…"

"Ours?" he finished.

"Yes. Hojo's experiments altered their appearances a bit but they are ours. They joined up with Cloud and his group before I did. They were there when the last battles took place," she said.

"We'll have to find them. How old are they?" he asked.

"Six years old," she said.

"They must be a handful," he said with a slight smile.

"Oh they can cause their share of destruction," she said.

"…I'm sorry if I ever hurt you," he said suddenly.

"You never did. But it was not you who caused all that destruction. It was Jenova acting through you," she said.

"But…" she shook her head to stop him from going on.

"Let's not talk about that now," she said.

He slowly nodded and laid down next to her carefully wrapping an arm around her waist.

She moved closer to him and let out a sigh.

Within moments she was sleep.

He stroked her hair and let his thoughts wander.

After another few minutes he too was asleep.

                                    ****

"There they are."

"How are we going to get THERE?"

"Oh Rueh! Use your brain!"

"…what's that?"

Dete groaned and put a hand to her forehead. 

"In that case why don't you just follow me?" she said.

Rueh shrugged

"Fine with me. Now where are we going and how are we going to get there?"

                                    ****


	26. chapter 26

(Author's Note: Okay…raise you hands if you know the answer to my question…no Rueh put your hand down! I know you know…but I wonder if anyone else knows…he's not mentioned in this chapter…NOW!...should I continue and go on with this story and this idea about…_him…that is floating through my mind? Please tell me! Thanks! If no one does…this might just be the last chapter…one more at the most left though…)_

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Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or Squaresoft! I own Cassandra and Dete but Rueh owns Rueh…(hopefully…)…

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**Chapter 26**

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-Next morning-

Sephiroth brushed at whatever was poking his shoulder.

It went away.

-5 minutes later-

He was poked in the shoulder again.

He got an annoyed look on his face as he brushed the thing away again.

-3 minutes later-

Sephiroth was REALLY annoyed now.

He swung at the thing poking him in the shoulder but missed yet again.

Sighing he settled back down into Cassandra's arms.

-1 minutes later-

He could hear giggling as he was poked yet AGAIN!

This time he just ignored it.

-30 seconds later-

*poke*

*grumble…*

-15 seconds later-

*poke…poke…poke…POKE!*

He smirked as his slap found its mark this time.

-Not even a hundredth of a second later -

"YOU HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sephiroth sat up with a start.

Cassandra's eyes snapped open and glared at being jerked awake by him.

Sephiroth's eyes widened when he saw 2 little kids in the room.

One was standing a safe distance away while the other was sitting on the floor next to the bed with a hand over the bright red slap mark.

"You hit Rueh!" Cassandra said upon seeing her.

"She was poking me first!" he said.

"Sure. This is Rueh and that's Dete," Cassandra said pointing to them each in turn.

"…Rueh and Dete…"

-5 seconds later-

"Oh Rueh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sephiroth said getting up and kneeling next to her.

"*sniff*…you hit me!" *WHAM!*

"Oh look you hit him," Dete said walking forward and climbing up to sit on the edge of the bed next to Cassandra.

"…ouch…"

"Took you long enough to remember what I told you yesterday," Cassandra said as Sephiroth sat up rubbing the side of his face.

"But that was yesterday," he said.

She just shook her head slowly.

"Anyways…how did you 2 get here?" she asked turning her attention to Rueh and Dete.

Rueh shrugged and looked at Dete.

"What was that thing called again?"

"A chocobo," Dete said dully.

"Oh yeah…"

"Anyway we felt you wake up so we came to Midel by chocobo," Dete said.

"Felt us wake up? What do you mean?" Sephiroth asked.

"We went back to the Forgotten City," she said.

"How did you feel us?" Cassandra asked with a confused look.

"I don't know…we just felt it. I can't explain it," Dete said.

Sephiroth got up and sat beside Cassandra.

"What happened to your friends?" he asked.

"I don't know," Rueh said with a shrug.

"I think they went to Cosmo Canyon," Dete said shaking her head slowly.

"Good. But before we go there we have something else to do," Sephiroth said.

"And what's that?" Dete asked tilting her head to the side a bit.

Cassandra gave a small smile and poked Sephiroth on the forehead.

"Getting your thoughts in order that's what," she said.

"I don't hear Jenova's voice anymore. And all the thought's in my head are my own," he said.

"That's a start but you're still confused about your parents…"

"From your tone I think I would rather not know," he said warily.

"You should know…in case Jenova were to come back. You'd be harder to confuse," Dete said.

"She's right," Cassandra said.

He sighed.

"I know…let's get this over with…"

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-1 week later-

"Two weeks…"

"Tifa they'll be fine. Rueh and Dete can take care of themselves easily," Cloud said looking up at her.

"I guess you're right but…we don't know anything about them and I have questions for them," she said with a sigh and sat down next to him.

"What do you want to ask?"

Both Tifa and Cloud jumped.

They turned to see the entrance to Cosmo Canyon.

"…Sephiroth…?" Cloud said slowly getting to his feet.

Sephiroth turned his back to Cloud as the rest of Avalanche walked up to them.

"So I see Rueh and Dete found you 2," Red said.

"Yes they did," Cassandra said looking down at them.

"Well? You wanted to ask us questions?" Rueh asked.

She had been the one to make Tifa and Cloud jump.

"Yeah…I was wondering were your parents were or if you knew them," Tifa said.

Rueh and Dete looked at each other.

"…why?" Dete asked turning back to Tifa.

"Because you 2 are still little…"

"We can take care of ourselves," Rueh said.

"You don't need to worry about them Tifa," Cassandra said with a smile while turning and grabbing Sephiroth's hand as he stepped away.

"What…? Oh," Yuffie said.

Sephiroth stopped and looked at Cassandra.

A silent conversation passed between them and he nodded bowing his head.

"Hey Red…could we stay here for awhile? Just until we find a place of our own and figure out a few things?" Cassandra asked.

Red looked thoughtful.

"I do not mind. You may stay for as long as it takes for you 4 to find a place to live," he said.

 "Thank you," she said.

"You have a few things to figure out?" he asked almost like an after thought.

"Yeah…this is a place of learning right?"

"Yes."

"Could we read a few books?"

"Oh yes. If you need help just ask but for now you may call this place your home," Red said.

"Again thank you," Cassandra said.

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	27. chapter 27 Author's Note please read!

**Chapter 27**

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Hey! Guess what? This chapter is an author's note! Hahahahahahaha! *more evil laughter*  ANYWAY…I'm going to create a sequel to this story. It will start where this one left off. I have a basic idea of the plot but any ideas you have will be very much welcomed! Maybe a few new characters…? I haven't gotten that far yet. Anyways…I was talking to my friend Rueh yesterday and she gave me this name…the name of the sequel is 'Mysterious Ties' and as of now I have one bad guy…but I'm thinking of another one to go with the 1st…oh well.

I should get this new story up either later today or tomorrow. It all depends on the last reviews for this story. I've asked before but tell me the answer to this and the new story will be up faster…

Who is the one person in To Save An Angel that was NOT dealt with by Avalanche?

Now I must be going to get started on the new story but first…

To Arcander…Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciated them! *gives you chocolate* 

To Elendil Star-Lover…Thanks for your reviews! I also appreciated them as well! *gives you chocolate*

To Rueh…Thanks for your reviews! Sorry I can't give you chocolate though…I'm all out…you ate it all last time…

And to everyone else…THANK YOU! *chocolate for you!*

Oh! And also Rueh and I have posted a new story under my name. It's call To Return to Love…in this story Rueh and Dete weren't as…troublesome as they could have been but this new story makes up for that…

Thanks again!

Juzu ^_~


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